Money Talks
by a proud geekfreak
Summary: When a single mother is found raped and unconcious, the SVU team has two suspect. The ex and the son of one New York's most powerful business CEO. The case is especailly hard on Detective Odafin Tutuola and Munch starts to wonder about Fin and his past.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Special Victim Unit fan fiction. I hope you people like it.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own these people. Also, some of the new characters might resemble characters from a very popular series of books, turned into popular series of movies. However, they have been changed enough that the author of the books can not sue me! HAHA! I found a loophole! ... Sorry about that little outburst, anyways, I hope you enjoy it!

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A man with a long, beige coat was walking down a plain, light green painted hallway. He was talking on a cell phone, leaving a message on someone's answering machine. "Karen, are you there? You missed the staff meeting, that's unlike you. Listen, I'm heading to your apartment right now, so if you're sick get off your butt and be ready to help me sort out the mess finances left us."

The man knocked on the door labeled 6D, but got no answer. He tried it again, and yelled through the door, "Karen come on, let me in. It's Billy."

He still got no answer, and he tried the door. It was opened, and he let himself in. Karen's apartment had two bedrooms, and all the walls brightly painted. It had an open kitchen, with some mail on the counter. It was eerily silent, no TV or radio was on. Billy wandered around the apartment, until he reached one of the bedrooms. He knocked on the door and asked, "Karen, you in there?"

He opened the door, and walked into a dark room. There was a strange smell in the room, and Billy couldn't see a thing. He searched for the light on the wall, and found it. As the light flickered on, Billy found Karen. She was wearing a lavender tank top, with a pair of ripped black underwear. Her skin had no color left to it, and her dark brown hair was mixed in with a pool of blood. She had big, dark bruises on her thighs, around her neck and all over her arms.

Billy gagged and left the room. He picked up his cell phone and dialed 9-1-1.

**St. Patrick's Hospital, 11th Avenue. Wednesday, March 3rd.**

Detective Olivia Benson, with her shorter then shoulder length brown hair and her dark jeans, tan top and brown leather jacket, and her partner Detective Elliot Stabler, in his casual pants, shirt and tie, were at the hospital waiting for the rape kit report. Elliot was on the phone with Detective Munch, who was at the crime scene with his partner Detective Fin. He said goodbye and hung up. He looked at Olivia and asked, "You want to hear it?"

"Hit me," Olivia said.

"The names Karen Barley, single mother," Elliot told her. Olivia closed her eyes and let out a sad sigh. "All of her family is over in England, and the only family she had in America died, ten years ago."

"So where's her daughter and why is she in New York?"

"Munch said Fin found a letter from the private school, Jefferson's Elite School. The daughter is probably there," Elliot told her.

"So Karen is a single mother who is rich enough to send her daughter to one of the best private schools?" Olivia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, the letter was about her daughter's scholarship," Elliot answered him.

"What about the father?"

"They're still looking for one."

"Has her daughter and family been told yet?" Olivia asked.

"They told the daughter, and they are trying to find her family," Elliot told her, as she let out another sad sigh.

The doctor came out of the room, and greeted the two detectives. "The good news is she will live, however she is in a deep comatose state with a three percent chance of waking up."

"How did the rape kit come out?" Olivia asked.

"It was clean; the perp wore a condom, both times."

"She was raped twice?" Elliot asked.

"Yes, but the bruises indicate that she was forced only one time," the doctor told them.

"Were there any hairs or fibers?" Olivia asked.

"I found a blond hair under her fingernails," the doctor told them.

"We're going to need that," Elliot told her.

The doctor nodded and then told them, "We couldn't save the baby."

"She's pregnant?" Olivia asked, shocked

"Was, she had a mark on her stomach suggestion she fell, which could have caused a miscarriage or it was from the loss of blood," the doctor told them.

"How old was the fetus?" Elliot asked.

"Five weeks," the doctor told them. "Now if that's it, I have to finish my rounds."

"Thanks for all your help," Elliot said. "We'll give you a call if we need anything else."

As Elliot and Olivia were walking away, Olivia said, "I guess she wasn't too single."

"So here's what could have happened, she told her boyfriend she was pregnant, he freaked out, raped her once, she fought back, and then he raped her again, but this time she didn't fight back," Elliot theorized.

"Or the first time the sex was consonantal, and then she told her boyfriend and that's when he freaked," Olivia suggested.

"Either way, we have to find the boyfriend."

At the station, Olivia and Elliot found that Fin and Munch were at their desk looking through Karen's things. Fin had his hair pulled back into his braid and his usual scowl on. Munch was in his usual dark suits, with dark, square sunglasses. Munch was going through a folder, while Fin was looking through her palm pilot. "Has either of you two found a number to a boyfriend?" Olivia asked.

"No, but I have found the number to a local pizzeria and all the phone numbers of her co-workers," Munch told her.

"There's a password block on her palm pilot, but I can't find anything like that," Fin told them.

"How about finding her daughter's father?" Elliot asked.

"Still waiting for the reports from England," Munch told him.

"What about the daughter?" Fin asked.

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.

"The daughter might know if Mommy was seeing anyone," Fin said. "Ask the daughter if she knows about her mom's boyfriend, or about her father."

"You try it with Jefferson's Headmistress," Elliot said with a small laugh. "She does allow her students to be bothered during the school year. Parental visits are limited, along with the student's vacations."

"Wait, isn't Jefferson an all year school?" Munch asked.

"Yeah, it is."

"Was there any sing of a struggle at her apartment?" Olivia asked.

"No sign of force entry or struggle till you reach the bedroom," Fin answered.

"So she must know the perp somehow, and thought nothing of letting him in," Olivia said.

"Until he got a little too friendly," Elliot finished for her.

A man with medium, wavy, red hair entered the police department. He looked around and went up to the desk of Olivia Benson as she was leaving. "All right," Olivia said, "Elliot and I will go check out the school."

She got up and started to leave when the man stopped her. "Excuse me, but I'm looking for the detectives working on the Barley case."

"That's us," Olivia told him, pointing to Elliot and her. She noticed he had a press badge clipped on his coat pocket. "Sorry, but we can't talk to the press yet."

"No, I'm not the press," he told her. He looked down at his badge and said, "Well, I am the press, but not for this story."

"We were just on our way out," Elliot told him. He pointed to Fin and said, "You can talk to him if you have a question."

"Thanks," the man said.

He walked over to Fin, who asked, "Yeah, is there something I can help you with?"

"I think I might be able to help you," the man told him.

Elliot and Olivia paused, and listened to what the man had to say. "How so?" Fin asked.

"I was once married to a girl named Karen Barley, I was hoping it's not the same one," the man told him.

"The school can wait," Olivia told Elliot. She walked over to the man and extended her hand. "I'm Detective Olivia Benson, and you say you were married to Karen Barley?"

The man shook her hand and said, "Yes, my name is Ron Weston."

"Could you identify her?" Elliot asked.

"I was married to her," Ron reminded him.

"Good," Munch said, and showed him a picture of Karen with the bruises around her neck and hooked up to a machine.

Ron looked it over and looked sick to his stomach. Finally he told them sadly, "Yup, that's her. What happened to her?"

Elliot and Olivia glanced at each other and Elliot said, "We're not at liberty to discuss it."

"I'd like to help in anyway I can," Ron told them. He pulled out a card and handed it to Olivia. "There's my card, if you need anything please give me a call."

He turned to leave when Fin asked, "How'd you find out about this case? It's not in the newspapers yet."

"I work for The Times. They knew I was married to her and when they heard, they told me about," Ron answered them before walking out of the police department.

"Think he's the father of the daughter?" Elliot asked.

"Probably," Fin told them. "Barley had pictures of her daughter in her apartment, and the daughter had red hair like his."

"Do you think Mom and Dad tried to reconnect their spark?" Munch asked.

"And when it didn't work, Dad gets mad and rapes her," Fin finished for him.

"Or maybe they ended on good terms, and Mom was seeing someone else," Olivia suggested. "The found a blond hair under her fingernails."

"That doesn't automatically make it the perp's," Fin objected.

"True," said Caption Donald Cragen, a tall, strong, balding man. "Stabler, Benson, talk to the daughter, and find out if her mom had any boyfriends. Fin, Munch, find out more about the ex."

**Jefferson's Elite School, Headmistress' office, 96th Avenue. Wednesday, March 3rd.**

Olivia and Elliot were in the Headmistress' office, which was very lavishly and eloquently decorative. The Headmistress was behind her large, red cherry oak desk. She had on a black skirt suit, and her thick, brown hair was pulled back in a tight bun. She was going over papers, and looked very annoyed at the two police officers in her office. On her desk she had the nametag, Hannah Granger. She cleared her throat and said, "Listen Officers, Krystal is upset about what happened to her mother enough, I don't want you two asking questions right now."

"We know it's a delicate time for Krystal," Olivia told her understandingly. "And we know you are only trying to do your job to help protect these kids, but we need to talk to Krystal in order to find the person who attacked her mother."

"Krystal is a young girl, who is going through a tough time and I will not let you badger her and make it worse," Hannah told them.

"Ms. Granger," Elliot said, getting fed up with the Headmistress, "this investigation needs your assistance to continue. I know that these students are like your own sons and daughters, but-"

"First off," Hannah interrupted, "it is Mrs. Weston. I need change that. And second off, Krystal is my stepdaughter and I will not have you upsetting her anymore. Now, if you come back tomorrow, then maybe Krystal will have calmed down enough to help you."

"Thanks for your time," Olivia told her, trying to sound sincere. After the two of them were outside her office, Olivia said, "Well, she's just so nice and sensitive about this situation."

"I guess we know who the father is," Elliot said, dragging his hand down his mouth and jaw.

"We don't need her permission to talk to the daughter, right?" Olivia asked.

"If this private school wasn't in its own little world."

"Can't we just go around the Headmistress and asked the daughter's guardian?"

"That is assuming she isn't the guardian."

A small redheaded girl walked passed them, and went to knock on the door. She paused and looked at them. Her blue eyes scanned over them and she asked, "Are you waiting to see the Headmistress?"

"No," Olivia answered her.

Elliot looked at the girl and whispered to Olivia, "Didn't Fin say her daughter was a redhead?"

Olivia nodded, and asked the girl, "What's your name?"

"Krystal."

"Krystal Barley?" Elliot asked.

"Are you the cops?" Krystal asked.

"Yes, I'm Detective Olivia Benson and this is my partner Detective Elliot Stabler," Olivia told her.

"Do you know who attacked my mom?" Krystal asked.

"Actually, we wanted to ask you some questions," Olivia told her.

"Then ask if it will help my mom," Krystal told them.

"Mrs. Weston doesn't want us to ask you anything today," Elliot told her.

"Then we won't tell her," Krystal told them. "What do you want to ask me?"

Olivia smiled and said, "Well, we wanted to know if you knew if your mom was seeing anyone."

Krystal shook her head and said, "I don't thinks so. She came to Parents' Day, about five weeks ago, and the only thing new with her was she got a new project for work."

"Parents' Day, what's that?" Elliot asked.

"Parents come and spend the day with their children," Krystal answered him.

"Was your dad there, Ron Weston is his name, right?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, he was there with Mom and me," Krystal told him.

"Were they acting strangely with each other?" Elliot asked.

"No, Mom and Dad were perfectly civil towards each other. Dad even made Mom smile a couple times," Krystal answered him. "That was getting harder to do, seeing how Mom missed having me around."

"They didn't seem like they were forcing themselves to be civil, did it?" Olivia asked.

"No, I think they were being genuine nice towards each other."

"Who do you live with now, when you're out of school?" Olivia asked.

"I lived with my mom over in England till I got accepted into this school. When we moved to New York, she asked my dad if he wanted me to live with him, and once he said yes, she asked me. I love my mom, but I never got to know my dad growing up, so I live with him now," Krystal told him.

"Krystal, this is my card," Olivia said, handing her a small business card. "If you ever need to talk, or you remember something that you think will be helpful, then give me call."

"Are you going to ask people at her work?" Krystal asked, taking the card. Olivia gave her a confused looked and Krystal said, "They might know if she was dating anyone. They might also know if she had a problem with someone."

"Thanks, we'll do that," Olivia told her.

"Please, just try and find who did this."

"We'll try our hardest," Elliot told her.

"Thank you," Krystal said, before knocking on the Headmistress' door and going into the office.

"Smart kid," Elliot said.

"Her mom raised her well," Olivia said.

"Shame she has to have that as a step mom," Elliot said.

**_The New York Times_' main office, Editor's office, 56th Street. Wednesday, March 3rd.**

Fin and Munch were sitting in the Editor's office, while the Editor was going over some of the next day's articles. Fin tapped his foot on the ground; get sick of waiting for the Editor to answer his questions. "I don't think Ron has ever been in trouble with the law. He's a good kid," the Editor told them, curtly.

"That's not what we asked," Fin told him. He pushed the picture of Karen closer to the Editor and said, "We asked if you ever seen this girl around."

"I'm sorry, but I just assume if the police start asking questions about one of my star reporters, he's in trouble with the law," the Editor told him, eyes narrowing at the policemen.

"Take a look at the picture," Munch suggested. "Then tell us if you ever saw her."

The Editor took the picture and said, "Sure, that's Ron's ex. She stopped by to get Ron to sign some papers."

"Any clue what the papers were about?" Fin asked.

"I think something to do with their kid," the Editor answered briskly. "We don't really ask about each other's personal lives."

"But you know she was his ex, how?" Fin questioned, his eyes narrowing at him.

"Because I think Jimmy asked if he could date her," the Editor said harshly, returning the glare.

"So you never saw her again?" Munch asked.

"No, Ron only had his wife visit him," the Editor told them.

"His wife?" Fin asked with surprised.

"Yeah, real uptight, and seemed controlling."

"How long have they been married?" Munch asked.

"About a couple years, maybe three, no more then four."

"How long ago did you see this girl?" Munch asked.

"Towards the end of summer, early fall. It's been about seven months," the Editor told him. "Now if you excuse me, I have a lot of work to still do."

"We'll be in touch," Fin told him rather snidely. As soon as he was out of the Editor's office, he muttered, "Bastard."

"I don't know, he seemed nice to me," Munch said sarcastically. "Come on, let's see if any of the reporters ever saw Karen more then once."

Fin tapped a young copyboy walking by, held up a picture of Karen and asked, "Hey, have you seen this woman before?"

"Yeah, the executive," the copyboy told them. "She came in looking for Red."

"Who is Red?" Munch asked.

"Ron, that's what we call him and we called that girl 'the executive' because she always had on a skirt with a nice jacket, even though we wished she would wear less," the copyboy told them with a huge smile.

"Now how would you know that she always wore a skirt?" Fin asked. "How many times did you see her?"

"She came around about six months ago, but I worked with Red a couple times, out on the field, and we saw her there," the copyboy said. "Only it was weird because she would see him, but try and avoid him."

"Would Ron try and get her attention?" Munch asked.

"A couple times, he would take a quick break and go off in her direction."

"Thanks, you've been lots of help," Fin told him, and the copyboy went on his way. Fin turned to Munch and said, "So she tries and avoid him, but he seeks her out. Think he was still a little obsessed?"

"Defiantly would explain a lot," Munch said.

Fin's phone rang, and Fin quickly answered it. "Fin here. What's up?" … "They can't do that." … "Ok, we'll be right there."

Fin hung up and said, urgently, "We have to get to the hospital, now."

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**A/N:** anyone know how many wives Munch had or how old Fin's son is? Also, I hope you like it! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: do not own any of the SVU characters. pouts

**A/N**: thanks for all the help **viol8dbyalizzard**! and for everyone else who reviewed! (by the way, **onlyonceinforever** yes I finally posted it!)**

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**St. Patrick's Hospital, 11th Avenue. Wednesday, March 3rd**.

Fin and Munch walked up to Karen's room, only to find that Elliot and Olivia were already there with the Assistant District Attorney, Casey Novak. "What's going on?" Fin asked.

"Karen Barley has a Living Will," Casey told them. "She says if she has a less then ten percent chance of waking up, she wants the plug pulled right away."

"So, you can stop it right?" Elliot asked.

"I can try, and get it delayed, but there's no guarantee that I can stop it," Casey told them.

"You try and stop it, and I'll fight you to the teeth and bone," a woman, dressed in a black pants suit with a cream yellow colored shirt, told Casey.

"And who are you?" she asked the woman.

"I'm Jacqueline Jackson, Ms. Barley's legal representative," Jacqueline told her. "And if you try and stop this, I'll see you in court."

"You can't pull the plug," Fin told her. "She was just raped; she could still have evidence on her."

"So just because she's unconscious, she is denied her rights?" Jacqueline asked innocently.

"That's not what he said," Casey told her.

"I think it will be up to Judge Wheeler to determine that." Jacqueline handed Casey some blue papers and said, "I can't wait to see you in court."

As Jacqueline walked away, Casey gave Fin an annoyed look. "Thanks, now she's going to try and get Judge Wheeler to think that the police only see her client has evidence and is trying to take her rights."

"You can't just let them kill her, though," Fin said.

"She has a Living Will," Olivia told him, "it's perfectly legal."

"That's bullshit," Fin said taking one last glance at Karen's pale, fragile, lifeless body, before storming off.

Olivia sighed; this job could be hard and demanding sometimes. They had to deal with more things then any other person, and they always had to not let it get personal, even though that was hard to do. She understood where Fin's concern was coming from, but also knew he was starting to take this personally and how badly that could turn out.

"So, what did you find out about the ex?" Elliot asked Munch.

"He's a star reporter, and his editor says that Karen only came into his office once, six or seven months ago," Munch informed him. "However, a copyboy told us that Ron had seen her while he was on report."

"So?" Olivia asked.

"So, Karen tried to avoid him, but Ron tried to get her attention."

"Sounds like Ron did something to make Karen uncomfortable around him," Elliot said.

"What did you find out with the kid?" Munch asked.

"She said her mom and dad got along fine at Parents' Day," Olivia told him. "However, that was five weeks ago."

"Around the same time the mom got pregnant," Elliot told Munch.

"She's pregnant?" Fin asked shocked, coming back after he let himself cool off.

"If she's pregnant, then I can get the Living Will thrown out," Casey told him, hoping rising in her voice.

"She had a miscarriage," Olivia told her.

"So she got pregnant on the same day she saw her ex?" Munch asked to no one in particular.

"The son of a bitch," Fin said. "He raped her before."

"Now we don't know that for sure," Elliot told Fin.

"Oh yeah?" Fin asked. "CSU just called and said they found unidentified fingerprints all over Karen's apartment. How much you want to bet they are Ron's?"

"I say we bring the ex down town for a friendly little chat," Munch suggested.

"You don't have enough to go on yet," Casey told them. "If you can prove that the fingerprints belong to the ex, then bring him in. Till then, go to her work and talk to her friends."

"She's got a friend named Cynthia Alvaro on west side," Olivia told them.

"We're on it," Munch said.

"Then we'll check out her work," Elliot said.

"Work fast," Casey told them. "I don't know if I can stop the Living Will."

**The apartment of Cynthia Alvaro, 46th Street. Wednesday, March 3rd**.

Cynthia was petite woman, in her late twenties. She had dark wavy hair, with fair skin. Her big, dark brown eyes that were filled with worry as she talked to the two police officers. "Why do you want to know about Karen? Is she in some sort of trouble?" Cynthia asked.

"She was raped, and we're trying to find out by whom," Munch told her. "So we need to ask you some questions."

"Uh, sure," Cynthia said in a dazed tone, with a surreal look on her face.

"When was the last time you spoken with Karen?" Munch asked.

"On the phone, a couple days ago," Cynthia told them. "We were planning on having tea together this Saturday."

"When was the last time you saw Karen in person?" Fin asked.

"About four weeks ago. She was always busy with work," Cynthia told them.

_Four weeks, that's one week after Parents' Day_, Fin thought to himself. "Did she seem strange to you?"

"How so?" Cynthia asked.

"Fidgeting, unsocial, did she have any strange bruises?" Fin suggested.

"She seemed distant, I thought it was just because she had to see all those happy, unbroken families at Parents' Day," Cynthia recalled.

"Is that the reason she gave you?" Fin inquired.

"No, she didn't really give a reason, I just knew after all those years of being friends."

"How long have you been friends?" Munch asked.

"Junior High, but we faded apart once I moved from London," Cynthia told them.

"Did Cynthia ever mention a boyfriend?" Fin asked.

Cynthia thought for a minute and then said, "No, she was a workaholic, except when it came to her daughter. Nothing was more important then her daughter."

"Did she mention anyone harassing her?" Munch asked.

"No, she hasn't had a problem with anyone since the tenth grade," Cynthia told them.

"Did you ever get the feeling that she was in trouble?" Fin asked.

"When she called the other day, her voice sounded distressed," Cynthia said, suddenly remembering. "I asked her what was wrong, and she said she just came back from the doctor's office and said she needed to talk to me in person. I couldn't get anything else out of her."

"Thanks, we'll give you call if we have any other questions," Fin told her. As they left her apartment, and walked down the hall, he muttered, "So she didn't tell her friend about what happened. That was waste of time."

"Not necessarily," Munch said. "We learned that she knew she was pregnant. That's what must have sent Ron over the deep end."

Fin just grumbled and had a face of discontent. "Let's go see if we can connect him with the finger prints," Munch suggested, which got Fin to grin wildly.

**The Sindicto Corporations, 23rd Floor, 27th Avenue. Wednesday, March 3rd**.

Elliot and Olivia were standing in the middle of a busy office, trying to find someone who wasn't on the phone, or on their way to a conference. The saw a woman, in her mid-thirties with dirty blonde hair, shoulder length, half pulled up in a ponytail, put hang up her phone. Elliot went over to her and pulled out his badge. "Hi, we're trying to ask some question about Karen Barley."

A man, in a dark suit came over to drop off a folder, when he over heard. "That bitch, what's up with her now?" the man asked bitterly. "Did she become Co-President of this place?"

"Why is she a bitch?" Olivia asked.

"She hops off a plane, handles one client and all of a sudden gets the promotion I've been working three years for," the man told her.

"Maybe you shouldn't have lost the company half a million," the woman at her desk teased him.

"Honest mistake," the man defended, before walking off.

"He seems not to like Karen Barley too much," Elliot observed.

"He's just bitter that this company gives females equal rights and opportunity," the woman told them. "My name is Mindy, by the way."

"Mindy, would that man be angry enough at Karen to try something?" Olivia asked.

"Tommy, nah," Mindy answered. "He's harmless, why do you want to know?"

"We're investigating the rape of Karen Barley," Elliot told her.

Mindy gasped and said, "We knew something bad must have happened, but we never thought that."

"How did you know something happened?" Olivia questioned.

"She missed a conference, and she never misses one. We really need her there too; finances screwed up on their report," Mindy explained. "I think Billy went over to her apartment to check up on her and get some help."

"He must have been the one who called 9-1-1," Olivia said. "Tell us, did Karen have any problems with anyone else in the office?"

"No, we all thought she was a doll. It was weird though, having someone younger then you be your boss," Mindy confessed.

"How much younger was she?" Elliot asked.

"She is twenty-seven, I'm … defiantly older then her by at least five years," Mindy told them with a sheepish smile. "And I'm one of the youngest on this floor, except for the interns."

"So would any of the guys try and make a pass at her?" Olivia asked.

Mindy let out a chuckle and said, "Have you seen her? Of course they have. It was always a no go. Some people started to wonder if she was a _sister_."

"A sister?" Elliot asked.

"If she was into women," Mindy clarified.

"Did you ever see anyone who Karen could have been involved with, personally, come by?" Olivia asked.

"No, but there was this girl named Hannah, something that began with a W, who kept calling for a while," Mindy said. "She was really harassing Karen, and it started to piss her off."

"Do you know what the phone calls were about?" Olivia asked.

"Karen got so mad one time that she picked up the phone and yelled, 'Hannah, I don't care what you think. Stop calling me on this number, unless it is an emergency.' Then she hung up the phone."

"Did Hannah ever call back?" Elliot asked.

"No, I wouldn't either. Karen sounded really angry," Mindy told them.

"How long ago was this?" Olivia inquired.

"Little bit more then a week," Mindy told them.

"And you saw no one who didn't look like they didn't belong?" Elliot asked.

"Nope, just the normal crazies who work her," Mindy told them with a small smile.

"Can you show us which desk is Karen's?" Olivia requested, looking around the cubicles.

"Sure, but it's in her office," Mindy told them. She led them to a large office with glass windows as a wall. The office was painted an ocean blue, and had a small black couch in it. Mindy opened the door with a spare key and said, "Here it is. Now I really have to go back to work. Lock up when you're done."

As Mindy walked away, Elliot shut the door and asked, "What twenty-seven year old do you know with their own office?"

"One who went to college and took summer courses so she could graduate early," Olivia said, picking up a letter from a college. She showed it to Elliot and said, "Apparently some college wants her to talk to students about her college plan."

"Interesting," Elliot mumbled, as he searched through Karen's desk. There ware pictures of her daughter, and an old family portrait of her family when she was in high school. There was some mail and a sticky note on the phone saying to call Hannah. He picked it up and wondered, "Now why would Mrs. Weston be harassing her husband's ex-wife?"

"Maybe Krystal got into trouble at school and forgot to tell us about it," Olivia suggested. She pulled out some folders and looked through them. "Hey El, look at this."

"What is it?"

"These folders, they have numbers from Finances, Human Resources reports, and Managing reports," Olivia told him, looking through the folder. "I thought she was in Marketing. Why does it look like she was trying to run this whole company?"

"Maybe she's an overachiever."

Olivia shook her head and kept looking through Karen's papers. Elliot had moved on the cabinets, and neither of them was finding anything suspicious. He sighed and said, "I'm not finding anything except more papers."

"I have nothing out of the ordinary either, but I found her appointment schedule," Olivia said, holding it up to show him.

Elliot looked it over and noticed the last appointment was to man named, Jonathan Marcelo at eight o'clock. Elliot pointed to it and said, "Cletus Marcelo owns a chain of hotels. If Jonathan is the son, what would he need with marketing advice?"

"Think it was a personal appointment?"

"I don't see what else the son of a wealthy father would be doing with business," Elliot told her.

"Let's get his number then," she said.

"Don't need it," Elliot told her. He pointed to the appointment and she saw that the number was already on it.

"Should we call him now?"

"Let's find out why Hannah was calling Karen first," Elliot told her.

**Judge Wheeler's chamber. Wednesday, March 3rd.**

Judge Wheeler was an old man, with thick glasses, and his white hair was always tangled and awry. He sat behind his desk, as Casey Novak and Jacqueline Jackson were trying to settle the argument without getting the court involved. "Judge Wheeler, Ms. Barley was the victim of a rapist. She could still have evidence on her," Casey defended. "If she dies, then the chance of catching her attacker gets lowered considerably."

"I am under the impression that the SVU detectives have caught many rapists, even when the victim unfortunately died," Jacqueline refuted.

"What do you have to say to that Ms. Novak?" Judge Wheeler asked.

"True, detectives can find a rapist when the victim is dead; however, this victim still has a chance to wake up. If she does, then she can help the investigation," Casey said.

"Chances and ifs are not certain," Jacqueline reminded the Judge.

"But death is," Casey retorted. "Your Honor, we understand that Ms. Jackson's client has this Living Will to help protect her rights, but there has to be exceptions to it."

"Your Honor, how does Ms. Novak know if my client would want there to be exception?" Jacqueline asked.

"True," Judge Wheeler said with a nod.

"I think the fact that she was pregnant would have been what she considered an exception," Casey told him.

"She was pregnant; why hasn't that been brought to my attention before?" Judge Wheeler asked, angry.

"Because of the fact that she had a miscarriage and I see no relevance of it to this case," Jacqueline told the judge.

"But it does matter," Casey said. "The doctor said that there was a chance she had a miscarriage after she became unconscious, which clearly cancels the Living Will on the grounds that Ms. Barley was unaware that she would endangering the life of her unborn child."

The judge nodded and looked to be pondering this thought. Jacqueline quickly said, "However, the doctor said it could have occurred when my client fell, which happened while she was conscious, thus the Living Will would still apply."

"You both make impressive arguments," the Judge told them. "However, since the time of the miscarriage can not be determined, and the fact that Ms. Barley is a rape victim, I have made my decision. The DA will have forty-eight hours to run any test they need on Ms. Barley and Ms. Jackson will not interfere. However, seeing how Ms. Barley still has rights, after the forty-eight the Living Will will be reactivated without any intrusions from the DA office. Understood?"

"Yes Honor," the two lawyers said in unison.

As they were walking out the judge's chambers, Jacqueline said, "Trying to use the baby, you must really be desperate."

"I'm just trying to help catch a rapist," Casey told her. "Your client's rapist."

"I just want to thank you for bring the miscarriage into it," Jacqueline told her sarcastically.

"I don't see what you're so upset about," Casey said. "Your client's Living Will is going to come back into play in two days, I think she can wait two days to die."

"The thing is she shouldn't have to wait," Jacqueline told her angrily and then turned to walk away. Casey rolled her eyes and walked away also.

**Crime Scene Unit Department, 59th Avenue. Wednesday, March 3rd**.

Fin and Munch were sitting in a science lab, waiting for the forensic of Karen's apartment to come back. Fin was absently tapping his fingers on a table, which got on Munch's nerves. Every time Fin's fingers dropped on the table, Munch ground his teeth. Soon, Munch felt he would grind his teeth away if Fin didn't stop.

"Stop it will you," Munch snapped, as Fin went to tap his fingers again.

"Fine," Fin told him like a defeated five-year-old.

"All right officers, we have the results," a young man named Ray, wearing a white lab coat said and had a folder in his hand. He had short light blond hair, and hazel eyes. "We found one set of unidentified fingerprints and one partial unidentified fingerprint."

"They don't match at all?" Fin asked.

"Not even one point," Ray informed them.

"Where were the fingerprints?" Munich asked

"The fingerprints were all over the apartment, and the partial was on a piece of mail," Ray told them.

"Mailman's?" Munch suggested helpfully.

"It would be on all the mail, not just one piece," Ray corrected him.

He held up a plastic bag with a brown envelope, which Fin took. He investigated it and asked, "How about the hair, any matches on the DNA?"

Ray held up another plastic bag, with an ultra fine blond hair in it. "No match, but the hair is blond and that narrows down the search."

"Why, just because it's blond?" Munch asked. "Your hair is blond."

"But not ultra blond," Ray told them. "Has either of you two seen the show Buffy?"

"No, missed that one," Fin told him.

"Well, there is a character called Spike who has hair blonder then blond," Ray explained. "Judging by the hair, I would say there is a high chance that the owner was albino, or had bleached it."

"Did you try and run test on the hair products from the hair?" Munch asked.

"Yeah, just some mousse, and hair gel, and hair spray," Ray told him.

"Girl's hair?" Fin asked.

"Nope, defiantly a guys hair. We ran DNA test and we found the Y chromosome."

"Got anything else for us?" Munch asked.

Ray pulled out some pictures of Karen and laid them on the table. He pointed to the picture of her deep bruised around her neck and said, "There's no bruises in the shape of a hand print. So if he strangled her, he used his forearm."

The detectives nodded and Ray pointed to the next picture. It was Karen's arms, which were covered in dark bruises. There were bruises in the shape of hand print on her upper arms and her lower arms were covered in defense bruises. "She put up one hell of fight. Judging by how dark the bruises on her knuckles, she got in a couple punches. Probably more then a couple."

"Good, she gave him a fight. That son of a bitch deserves it," Fin muttered.

Munch ignored his partner's obvious anger and asked, "Have any clue what the perp used to bash her head in?"

"Something light weight," said Ray. "That's good for her. The gash on her head was long, but not too deep. If it were any deeper, Karen would have died. I say maybe a large hardcover book could have been used, or her head bashed against the headboard."

"Anything else?" Munch asked.

"It could be nothing," Ray told them sheepishly.

"What?" Fin asked.

Ray smiled awkwardly and said, "It looked like she was making pancakes."

"That's it?" Fin gave him an annoyed look.

"I told you it could be nothing," Ray defended.

_This is just wasting our time_, Fin thought bitterly. "If you come up with anything else, give us a call. Till then, we'll be taking the evidence."

**SVU Squad Room, 16 Prescient. Wednesday, March 3rd**.

Elliot hung up the phone and sighed. Olivia noticed it and asked, "What's up El?"

"Hannah Weston called Karen Barley because her daughter got into a fight at school," Elliot told her.

"And she kept calling because of that?"

"No, she kept calling because of what Karen did at the meeting," Elliot told her.

"What, did she yell at her daughter?"

"No, she punched the father of the girl who was in the fight with Krystal," Elliot said with a smile.

"She did what?" Olivia asked with her mouth open.

"Apparently Mrs. Weston thought Karen's actions were inappropriate and a bad influence on her daughter," Elliot said. "So basically she was calling to harass Karen about her actions."

"So who was the guy she slugged?" Olivia asked.

"Jonathan Marcelo."

"The last meeting she went to, coincidence?"

Elliot smiled at her and shook his head. "Have you ever seen a coincidence in this line of work?"

Fin and Munch walked in the squad room. Fin greeted them with a sarcastically friendly, "We've got nothing."

"Not true," Munch corrected. "We found out from the friend that Karen never said anything about having a boyfriend or having sex. However, the friend told us that Karen said something was wrong after coming back from the doctor."

"So she must have known she was pregnant," Olivia said.

"Did you get anything from the CSU?" Elliot asked.

"One unknown partial finger was found on an envelope," Munch said.

"Could have been anybody's though, a neighbor who got it by mistake," Fin defended. "Like I said, we got nothing. How did you guys do?"

"We found out she was an overachiever at work, and was basically running the whole company," Elliot said.

"Also, her last appointment was with a man named Jonathan Marcelo," Olivia said.

"Son of Cletus Marcelo?" Fin inquired.

"Yes, and she knew Jonathan before their appointment," Olivia filled them in. "She punched him when their kids got in a fight at school."

"Wait, their kids get in a fight and she ends up punching him? I wish my mom had done that when I got in trouble with a kid at school," Fin said.

"Let's call up Mr. Marcelo and see if we can ask him some questions," Munch said.

"I'll do it," Fin volunteered. They all stared at Fin as though he had sprouted an extra head. He shrugged and said, "I dealt with the father when I worked in Narcotics. I just know how to deal with people like him."

"Calling him can wait," Casey said, entering the room. She looked every tired and annoyed. "We have forty-eight hours to run test on Karen, before they pull the plug."

"That's it? A lousy forty-eight hours?" Fin asked a scowling appearing on his face.

"We had a lousy forty-eight hours at four this afternoon." Casey looked at her watch and said, "Now we have a lousy forty-four hours."

Elliot let out a heavy sigh and said, "It's going to be a long night."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **all right, thanks for all the reviews guys. and I know later on in this chapter it sounds like a possible MunchFin slash, but it won't turn into one. They are concrened about in each other in a big brother sort of way. just thanks for the reviews!**

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**Apartment of Karen Barley, 36th Street. Wednesday, March 3rd.**

Olivia snapped on a pair of latex gloves, and began searching through Karen's things. Olivia had grown accustomed to the smell of latex after all the years she had been a cop. She also knew what to look for in a crime scene, anything out of place, or anything missing. Many times a crucial piece of evidence was the lack of it. There was nothing missing or out of place in Karen's apartment at first glance. There was open mail over her kitchen table, with a half written letter still on the pad.

Olivia picked it up and began reading it.

'Dear Cindy Lou Who, How's it going? I hope you're enjoying your one-year anniversary. Any word from Large Marge yet? Out of the three of us, did you ever picture her being the one to run off with a musician? I can't believe she turned out to be the flaky one. I wanted to be the flaky one. Anyway, I think I should tell you something.'

The letter stopped there. Olivia sighed, and put the letter down. If she had been raped before last night, no one knew, and if she didn't wake up in forty-two hours, no one ever would.

The bedroom door was barely on it hinges. The door handle was broken clean off the door, and was laying just a couple feet away. Olivia cautiously walked around the door, careful not to disturb anything. She inspected the bed, and underneath it. She found nothing more then dust and some old shoes. She sighed and started investigating Karen's dressers. There were pictures of Karen's daughter plastered all over her dresser, along with one or two pictures of Karen.

Olivia walked over to the small bookcase Karen had in her room. It was filled with the normal books, some classics, a few mysteries, and one or two trashy romance novels. Olivia noticed an empty space and inspected it. It was the size to fit a large book, but was empty. As she looked harder, Olivia saw a picture folded, and stuck halfway down behind the shelf. Olivia plucked it from it place and unfolded it. It was Karen as a teenager with a friend. The friend has brown hair pulled into a tight ponytail with jade green eyes, wearing a lacrosse uniform, holding a medallion and was being hugged by Karen.

Olivia's cell phone went off, causing Olivia to jump out of her skin. She picked up the phone without looking at the caller ID. "Benson."

"How did I know you would still be at it?" Elliot asked on the other end.

"This job has no quitting time," Olivia answered.

"Listen, we won't do any good if we're sleep deprived, so why don't you get some rest Liv?"

"That's just what I'm about to do," Olivia told him. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

**SVU Squad Room, 16th Precinct. Thursday, March 4th.**

"So what do we have?" Cragen asked, as soon as everyone was assembled around a pin up board.

The board had pictures of the crime scene and Karen. The board also had Karen's monthly planner plastered over it. Elliot pointed to the appointment with Jonathan Marcelo and said, "Her last appointment was with Mr. Jonathan Marcelo, and we don't think it was business."

"Have we talked to him yet?" Cragen asked.

"His secretary told us he would have an open time slot at one thirty this afternoon, and he would stop by if he had the chance," Fin said, rolling his eyes.

"Keep calling till he stops by," Cragen told Fin and Munch. He turned to Olivia and Elliot. "Try and get the ex-husband to come down and answer some questions." They nodded and Cragen asked, "What's going on with the two different fingerprints?"

"Neither of them matches anything in our databases," Munch said. "The people don't seem to exist."

"Before we hear your theory about that, is there anything else?" Cragen asked quickly.

"I was looking at the crime scene last night and noticed there was an empty space on her bookshelf. Probably enough space to have a photo album," Olivia informed them. She pulled out the picture in a plastic bag and held it up. "I think I've seen her before, but I don't know where."

Fin took the picture and examined it. He knew where Olivia had seen the person with Karen. He scowled and threw the picture on the table. Munch raised an eyebrow and asked, "What, ex-girlfriend?"

"She's a Marcelo," Fin answered glumly.

**Apartment of Jonathan and Alana Marcelo. Thursday, March 4th**.

Fin knocked on the door while saying to Munch, "Let me do the talking. The Marcelos doesn't like any crazy theorist who shoots their mouth off."

Before Munch could respond with one of his witty retorts, the door opened. A petite woman with light brown hair and jade colored eyes, wearing a pair of black leather pants and a red leather top with a V-neck opened the door. She glanced at the two detectives and then asked politely, "Is there something I can help you with?"

Fin held up his badge and said, "I'm Detective Odafin Tutuola, and this is my partner John Munch." Munch gave a brief smile while Fin continued. "We have an appointment with Mr. Jonathan Marcelo, is he in?"

"Oh right," the woman said. "My husband just came in from the office. Please come in, while I get him."

As the woman showed them into her living room, she introduced herself as Alana Marcelo. As soon as she had left, Munch started snooping around. He was started to inspect the bookshelves, and looked out the window. He noticed the great view of the city and that the window also had the fire escape.

"Do you enjoy the view?" a voice asked behind him.

Munch spun around to see a tall, lean, man with ultra blond hair. He face was covered in bruises and had a sharp, pointed chin with a nasty snarl. He had icy gray eyes, which burned into Munch's. Munch stared back and answered coolly, "Yes."

Fin looked away, refusing to meet Jonathan's eyes and said, "Mr. Jonathan Marcelo, this is Detective John Munch. Mind if we ask you a few questions about Karen Barley?"

Jonathan smirked gleefully and asked, snidely, "What she do, punch someone else, Detective Fin?"

"I wouldn't put it past her," Alana mumbled. "Always did have a problem with anger."

"Actually, she was attacked the other day," Munch told them.

Alana's face filled with horror as she gasped, but her face quickly became neutral again and asked, "I'm going to make coffee, would you two like any?"

"No, we're fine."

Alana nodded and briskly walked into the kitchen. Munch stared after her with a frown, while Fin told him, "We found her on March 3rd, the morning after you had an appointment with her. Mind telling us what the appointment was about?"

Jonathan laughed and said, "I was meeting her to discuss her sudden outburst at the parent teacher conference."

"How did that go?"

Jonathan grinned and answered, "Almost as bad as the parent teacher conference went."

"What exactly happened?"

"I told her I was debating on whether I should bring up assault charges against her, and something that would stop me was an apology," Jonathan told them. "The way she reacted, you'd think I was asking for a kidney."

"What time did you see her last?"

"She was waiting for me at the bar, around quarter past eight. We had our discussion and she left around eight thirty."

"What were you doing in a bar with her?" Munch asked.

Jonathan smirked at him and said, "I never do business in an office when I can avoid it. Besides, she said she didn't want me stinking up her office, so she suggested the bar. If she had an ulterior motive, trust me, I was not interested."

"Mind telling us what happened to you face?" asked Munch, glaring at Jonathan.

Jonathan's smirk dropped off his face and he answered solemnly, "I was mugged yesterday. Now if you don't mind, I'd like for you two to leave."

"We just have one more question," Fin told him. "We have to ask this, where were you Tuesday night to Wednesday morning?"

"Here, with my wife. Now leave."

"I told you to keep your mouth shut," Fin snarled as Munch and he were walking into the squad room.

Munch stopped and poured himself some tea, shaking his head. As he was stirring in some sugar he muttered, "I don't see what the big deal is. I just asked simple questions that shouldn't have been too hard to answer if he was innocent."

"John," the sound of his first name startled Munch. He looked up to see that Fin's eyes held both gravity and concern. Fin looked at him gravely and started up again. "The Marcelos don't like anyone who intrudes in their lifestyle. They will smooth out any bumps in their roads, by any means. Don't be come a bump."

Fin stalked away and answered a ringing phone. Munch stared after him, watching his partner's demeanor. Fin had his back to Munch, and refused to look back. Munch began to wonder if Fin had ever been a bump in the Marcelos' road, or knew someone who was. Before Munch could think about anything else, Fin hung up the phone and with out looking back at Munch said, "Come on, Elliot and Olivia is bringing Ron Weston in for questioning."

As Elliot showed Ron into the integration room, Olivia met with Cragen, Fin, Huang and Munch. "He's agreed to answer our questions, but we want Huang to watch him as he answers them."

"Can I get in on this?" Fin asked.

Olivia looked at Cragen, who shrugged and said, "Don't go too far. We don't want him to leave. Huang, Munch, Stabler and I will watch in the other room."

They all nodded in agreement, and turned to leave, when Cragen stopped Olivia. "Don't tell him that she was pregnant, unless it is a last resort."

Olivia nodded and joined Fin in the integration room. Ron sighed and stared up at the ceiling, with a styrofoam cup in his hand. Olivia sat down across from Ron, while Fin lingered back. Olivia politely smiled and introduced Fin. Afterwards she asked, "Where were you the evening of March 2nd to the morning of March 3rd?"

"At my house and I was alone. Hannah had to work late, and it was just easier for her to sleep on the couch in her office," Ron told them.

"So, when was the last time you saw Karen?" Olivia inquired.

"At the parent teacher conference," Ron answered, shifting slightly.

"Didn't stop by her apartment to have a chat about old times?" Fin asked mockingly.

Ron glared at him and answered, "No."

"Ever meet her anywhere?"

"No, I'm married." Ron was now glaring at Fin.

"Who says marriage has stopped anyone before?" Olivia asked, looking at Ron intently.

"Why did you and Karen break up?" Fin questioned suddenly.

"That doesn't matter anymore," Ron murmured, his face reddening.

"I think it does," stated Fin.

Olivia got up and whispered in Fin's ear, "What are you getting at Fin?"

"Just trust me." Fin put his hands on the table and leaned in close to Ron. "We got the reports from England. She filed for an annulment; stating and I quote, 'A teenager's word, who is hiked up on hormones, doesn't mean shit.' Now what could she had meant by that?"

Ron glared at him, his face looking as though he was burnt to a crisp, slowly answered, "Fine, I cheated on her. But I was a kid back then, and I grew up."

"So you weren't always the most faithful guy," Fin reminded him. "Why should we believe you're Mr. Faithful now?"

Ron went to answer him, but nothing came out of his mouth. He started breathing heavily, and kept glaring at Fin. Olivia pushed forward a couple pictures and said, "She's dying. She was beaten, raped and strangled. Did you know she had a Living Will and is going to die in about twenty-four hours if she doesn't wake up?"

"What?" Ron's face paled, so now it looked normal colored again. He looked at the pictures, and his left eye twitched.

"He was lying," Huang said.

"That was obvious," Elliot muttered.

"The parent teacher conference wasn't the last time he saw her. He didn't know about the Living Will though. His reaction was too … real," Huang noticed. He stroked his chin, while thinking. Dr. Huang, a psychologist who the Special Victim Unit called on frequently, was rather short among the tall detectives, but that never made him feel inferior to them. His deep eyes stared closely at Ron, who was observing the pictures of Karen's body the way the police found it. Huang nodded to himself and then stated, "I don't think he's our man."

"Come on, he has perp written all over him," Elliot objected.

"I observed the pattern of bruises, and I don't think Ron would have made them."

"Why not?" Cragen asked, being the only one in the room who still kept an open mind.

"The patterns indicate that the person who raped Karen wanted to inflict as much pain as he possibly could before raping her and then knocking her unconscious. I don't think, by Ron's reactions, that he could want to inflect any pain to Karen," Huang theorized.

"I disagree," Elliot said.

Munch sat in the corner, his finger lightly tapping his left temple, half listening to the interrogation and half thinking about what Fin had told him earlier. If the Marcelos didn't like cops asking simple questions, he didn't think they would enjoy a woman punching a Marcelo and then refusing to apologize for it. Maybe Huang had something.

"I agree with Huang," Munch said loudly. "I think maybe Jonathan Marcelo had his part in this."

Fin was in Ron's face as he held a picture of a badly bruised Karen. "You don't expect us to believe that she fell and did this to herself, do you?" Fin snarled.

"I didn't do that to her," Ron yelled at him.

"We found fingerprints all over her apartment, and we're thinking they're yours," Olivia informed him.

Ron's eyes narrowed at her and he challenged, "Prove it."

"Karen's an attractive woman, and you wanted her," Fin said. "You realized what you were missing out on all those years, and that made you angry. So you figured you would force yourself on her, and no one would care because you two were once married."

"No!" Ron yelled, jumping up and hitting his cup off the table. "I never forced myself on her!"

"You wanted her and you couldn't help yourself," Fin yelled at him. "And when you saw her at Parents' Day you just couldn't control yourself."

Ron shook his head angrily and said, "I don't have to take this. I'm leaving."

Before Ron reached the door, Olivia asked quietly, "Don't you want to know about the baby?"

Ron felt his heart skip a beat when Olivia mentioned the word baby. He slowly turned around and asked, "What baby?"

"Karen was five weeks pregnant," Olivia told him.

"What do you mean was?" Ron moved back towards his chair.

"She had a miscarriage."

Ron's face paled incredibly. He took a deep breath and shakily lowered himself into the chair. He looked at Olivia and asked, "She was five weeks along?"

Olivia nodded, and Ron let out a low sigh. He lowered his head into his hand and didn't say anything. Olivia pushed over a pad of paper and pen, and gently said, "We'd like to hear your side of the story."

Ron looked up at her angrily and said loudly, "I did not rape her."

Cragen open the door and said, "Benson, Fin, get in here."

Fin and Olivia walked over to the door, and before Fin left, he shot one last glare at Ron who was looking at the pad and paper.

"What's up Captain?" Olivia asked.

Cragen turned to Fin and scowled, "Ron came in here willingly, meaning he can leave any time he wants, and we don't want him to leave. Worst of all, I told you not to go too far, but you did. What were you thinking?"

"Captain, I know he did it. It's obvious, and we can't let him get away," Fin defended.

"We don't know if he did it for sure," Cragen reminded him. "And that doesn't give you the right to yell at him." Cragen paused and then added quietly, "At least not till we have hard evidence."

Fin held in a frustrated sigh and asked calmly, "Is there anything else?"

"I think we should check Marcelo's alibi," Munch said. "We shouldn't rule him out as a suspect yet."

"This case doesn't fit with the Marcelos' MO. It's too sloppy."

"Still," Huang said, "Ron doesn't fit in with my profile of the perp. From what I hear about Mr. Marcelo, I'd say he should defiantly be a suspect."

Fin took a deep breath and nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, your prime suspect just left," Munch told everyone, pointing at the now-empty interrogation room.

Fin ran out of the room and tried to find Ron before he was able to leave. It would have been easy for anyone to spot Ron with his red hair, but his red hair was nowhere to be seen. Fin banged his fist on a desk and muttered, "Damn it."

He walked back in the interrogation room and shook his head. Olivia sighed while Cragen looked down at his shoes. Fin noticed the cup Ron had been drinking out was discarded on the other side of the room. Fin snapped his fingers and pointed to Elliot. "Get a plastic bag."

Fin picked up a pen and walked over to the cup. He bent down and picked it up using the pen. Fin smiled and said to Cragen, "He discarded this. He voluntarily threw it away, so we can use it right?"

"Yes we can," Cragen answered with a grin.

Olivia had remained silent during Fin's discovery, suddenly spoke. She had been reading a note Ron wrote before he left. "Listen to what Ron wrote. 'I was there that night, but when I left Karen was fine. We had an affair, it was consensual. I didn't rape or hurt her. And since we still have a thin line of separation of church and state in this country, you have nothing on me. Go find her attacker.'"

"Do we need any more proof? Ron did it," Fin said angrily.

"I still do not believe that Ron tried to kill her," Huang said.

"This affair does make sense," Olivia said. "She had sex twice, but it doesn't mean she was raped twice."

"And don't most rape victims feel as though they are being punished for something, and that's why they don't fight back as hard as the could?" Elliot asked.

"But she did fight back," Fin objected.

"Just go with Munch and check out Marcelo's alibi, and if it doesn't have any holes then you can leave him alone," Cragen told Fin. "Benson, Stabler, go see a woman named Cynthia Alvaro. She said she remembered something about Karen."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **all right, thanks for the feedback, it is always appreciated and I love you all for it! and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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**Building of Jonathan Marcelo. Thursday, March 4th.**

Fin sighed, and leaned against the car as Munch talked to the doorman. He wanted to get Munch's and his own ass out of here as soon as possible. He felt uncomfortable around this apartment building and all of its white collared business CEOs.

He groaned as he got off the car and walked up to Munch. "What you got?"

"I was working that night," the doorman said. "I saw Marcelo and his wife come back from a party at twelve twenty and then he left early the next morning, around five fifty, right before my shift ended."

"I'll go see if this building has any security cameras," Fin said, even though he knew that the only security cameras were in the lobby.

"Don't I know you?" the doorman asked, pointing at Fin.

"No," Fin answered gravely.

"No, I do recognize you," the doorman said, shaking his finger at Fin

"No, you don't," Fin told him bluntly, and then walked in the building. He headed up to the front desk and showed them his badge. "Detective Tutuola and I will need the security tapes of any of the cameras that get a view of the front doors during the night of March 2nd to the morning of the 3rd."

The man at the desk nodded and went back to get them. Fin looked towards the door and saw Munch was still talking to the doorman, when a snide voice patronizingly said, "Well, well. If it isn't New York's finest, Detective Odafin Tutuola, in my very own apartment building. I bet it is a couple steps up from the crap hole you have to live in."

"Hello Marcelo, smuggle any more drugs for daddy?" Fin asked mockingly, staring at Jonathan with hate in his eyes.

"I don't believe you're in narcotics anymore, so you can't ask that." Jonathan smirked and glanced out the door. "I see your partner is checking up on my alibi. I thought you would have warned him by now. You must not really like him."

Fin balled his hands into fists and snarled at Jonathan. "I'm just waiting for that one false move, Marcelo."

"Get a long book," Jonathan told him with a smirk, "it's going to be a long wait."

He laughed lightly and started walking away. He stopped and turned around. Fin scowled at him, and Jonathan said loudly, "Better tell your partner to back off, Fin. I'd hate to see history repeat itself."

Then he continued to walk away.

Fin took a step forward and reached inside for his gun. He was unaware of his actions, until the man at the desk came back and said, "Detective, I've got them."

Fin turned his head and blinked. He looked down and realized what he was doing. He quickly dropped his hand and took the tapes.

Munch watched his partner all the way back to the precinct. Fin was in a worse temper then usual. He hadn't said anything except, 'get in the car' to Munch since he came out of the building. Munch didn't mind the silence, except he knew something was wrong. Especially when Munch theorized that the doormen of the world were just waiting for the right time to strike, and Fin just let it go with a nod.

Fin parked the car, and got out with out another word. Munch got out of the car and slammed the door. Fin walked by unfazed. "That's it. I want to know when aliens came down and switched my partner with a silent clone."

Fin gave him his 'shut up' stare and kept walking. Munch sighed and said quietly to himself, "Don't hate me for what I'm about to do Fin."

"Can I talk to you for a minute Captain?" Munch asked, knocking on Cragen's door.

"Start talking," Cragen said.

Munch came in and shut the door behind him. He sat down, and hesitated. "Captain, I don't know how to ask this."

Cragen looked up from his paperwork and asked, "Would you prefer to talk to Dr. Huang about it?"

Munch shook his head and said, "No. I have a request."

"What is it?"

Munch looked uneasily at his captain, and knew what he was about to do could ruin his partnership. He sighed and said cautiously, "I think you should take Fin off the case."

Cragen looked at Munch blankly. This was probably the first time any police officer came right out and said that their partner should be taken off a case. The partner might have hinted at it, but none of them had the guts to say anything.

Cragen took a deep breath and said, "Two things. Why, and have you discuss this with Fin yet?"

"Caption, I think Fin and Marcelo have a past, and one of them might still have some resent stored up. I'd hate to see Fin lose his job or life over this case."

"Have you tried asking Fin about what happened?"

"Fin won't discuss it. I tried asking, but he doesn't answer," Munch told him. "I know he is probably going to hate me if he finds out about this, but I think it would be for the best if he stays away from this case."

Cragen nodded and said, "I'll talk to him, but I'm not promising anything."

Munch nodded in agreement and said, "I would appreciate it if you kept my name out of the conversation."

"I'll try."

"Thanks."

Munch walked out and back to his desk. He sighed and looked over at Fin. Fin was looking down at his small notebook that he wrote in during interviews. He was completely lost in his own world that he didn't notice when Elliot and Olivia came in the squad room.

"What's with Fin?" Elliot asked Munch, after greeting Fin and receiving silence.

Munch shrugged and asked, "What you get from the friend?"

"Apparently Karen had the problem with Mrs. Marcelo," Elliot answered him.

Fin snapped out of his trace and asked, "What about Marcelo? What he do?"

"Karen had the spat with Alana Marcelo, who used to be her best friend," Olivia answered him. "Of course that was back when she was Alana Whitney."

Fin nodded and went back to his notes. Munch watched as his partner slipped away from reality, and then asked, "How bad was the fight, and what about?"

"Bad," Olivia answered. "Karen called Alana a housewife, and Alana called Karen a slut. Oddly enough, it was about Alana's boyfriend. Jonathan Marcelo."

Fin's head picked up again and as he went to ask a question, Cragen called, "Fin, in my office."

Elliot gave Munch a questioning glance, who just shrugged in response. Munch quickly got up and got the security tapes. He popped on into the video player, just trying to keep his mind off of how the conversation was going in the office. Munch didn't have to wait long. Soon Fin came storming out the office, slamming the door behind him, grabbed his coat of his chair and left with out a sound.

"What was that about?" Olivia asked, hearing another door slam.

Munch just looked back at the video.

After several hours of surveying the security video tapes, it was a safe assumption that if Jonathan Marcelo had left his building the night of the attack, he didn't go through the front door. Munch sighed and popped the video tape out of the player.

He knocked on Cragen's open office door and said, "He's not on the video tape."

"Meaning he didn't leave that building," Cragen clarified.

"He might have used the window," Munch joked.

Cragen rolled his eyes and said, "His alibi checks out, so focus on the ex from now on. We should have the results of the cup from the lab by tomorrow morning. Now go home and get some sleep."

Munch lingered in the doorway for a moment and asked, "How'd it go?"

"Let's say I suggested he should talk to Huang or take a couple days off for personal time," Cragen told him. Then he added, "You might want to lay low for a while."

Munch sighed and said, "Thanks Captain."

"Sure thing," Cragen said. "I just have one request - try not to put me in a situation like that again."

Munch nodded understandingly and said, "Thanks. Goodnight."

**SVU Squad Room. Friday, March 4th. **

Olivia and Elliot were at their desk, going over case notes. Munch leaned back in his chair and stared at Fin's empty chair.

It was past lunch, and the results of the fingerprints test were supposed to be back by now. Everyone was getting nervous. Cragen walked in and announced, "We've got the test results in."

Cragen paused as the three detectives sat up straight and paid sole attention to their captain. "The fingerprints match, except for the one partial fingerprint. Casey's working on the arrest warrant right now."

"You really think Ron's our guy?" Olivia questioned.

"His fingerprints are all over the apartment, he doesn't have an alibi and he admits to being at the scene of the crime," Cragen reminded her. "So yes, I think Ron's our guy."

"All right, we'll go wait for him at his job," Elliot said.

"Good, don't let him knew you're there to arrest him 'till we have the warrant."

Olivia and Elliot nodded, and then headed out the door just as Fin came walking in. Munch gulped as Fin walked up to Cragen and asked, "Captain, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Munch caught a resentful gaze from Fin, and ducked down. He stared at the floor until he heard Cragen's door shut. Munch took a long breath and waited. Finally Fin and Cragen came out of the office, calmly. Cragen nodded at Fin and then ordered, "Munch, go home for the rest of the day."

"What?"

"Go home," Cragen repeated.

"Why?" Munch asked, standing up.

"Take some personal time, and stay away from anything that deals with this case. Especially the Marcelos," Cragen told him.

"Captain, with all due respect, I don't think I should go," Munch defended.

"Too bad, it's a direct order."

"Fine." Munch rose and put on his coat. He gave them a fake smile and walked out.

Cragen shook his head and sighed. "You two better know what you're doing. I'm getting sick of telling my staff to take personal time. Go to the hospital, and make sure Ron doesn't show up."

Fin looked in Karen's room. Karen's frail, pale, body was lying motionlessly and her daughter, Krystal, had pulled up a chair and was holding on to her mother's hand for dear life. Fin shook his head, while Munch walked up behind him. "Just to tell you, Marcelo wasn't on any of the security tapes," Munch told him.

"So are you going to stay away from him?" Fin asked, not looking at his partner.

"I made the comment last night, that maybe he went out the window," Munch informed him.

"So?"

"The window in his living room has the fire escape; he could have gone down it."

"Munch, don't be stupid," Fin told him sternly. "Go home, and listen to Cragen's orders."

"Did you just do that to get back at me?"

"Why did you tell Cragen to take me off the case?"

"I didn't want you to do something stupid and lose your job," Munch told him.

"And I didn't want you to do something stupid and lose your life," Fin responded.

"Mind clarifying what you mean by that?"

"At least a hundred people have gone up against the Marcelos, and only two have ever survived," Fin told him gravely, looking at Karen.

"She's one, so who's the other?"

"Right before I transferred to SVU, my partner and I got a huge case. We were supposed to follow Cletus Marcelo and find out how he was smuggling in all his drugs. We thought we had him, too. I went undercover to sell drugs, and we weren't supposed to bust him until another week when the Cletus and his son, Jonathan, set us up.

"There were eight guys, with Cletus, including his son. Before my partner and I had a chance to pull out our guns, I felt a sharp pain in my ribs. Then the next thing I know, I'm in a hospital bed three weeks later."

There was a long pause and Fin said, "I never found out how the Marcelos knew we were cops. The only thing I know is that Jonathan killed my partner, trying to kill me, and no charges were ever brought against him."

Munch looked down at the ground and said softly, "I guess that explains your behavior."

Fin shook his head and stated, "I would love to get Jonathan on any charge, but if he gets off, then anyone who worked on his case is as good as dead." Fin turned and looked at Munch, with soft eyes. "I can't lose another partner to him."

Munch patted Fin on his shoulder and said, "I guess I'm going to take the rest of the day off. See ya around."

Elliot and Olivia waited by the doors to the New York Times office for the phone call. The phone call would give them the right to arrest Ron Weston, and search his office and home. Finally, Elliot's cell phone rang. He picked it up quickly and nodded to Olivia.

The two barged into the main office and headed towards Ron's office. They knocked on the door as preliminary and was greeted by a growling, "Go away."

"Mr. Weston, it's the police, open up," Elliot growled back.

The door open slightly, and Ron stuck his head out. "I'm busy, make it quick."

"Better clear your schedule," Elliot told him. Elliot pushed the door open completely and grabbed Ron. "You're under arrest for sexual assault and the attempted murder of Karen Barley."

As Elliot handcuffed Ron, and red him his rights, Olivia put on plastic gloves and started to rummage through the office. She opened a cabinet in the office and spotted a photo album. She picked it up and flipped through it.

"Elliot," Olivia interrupted. "Look at this."

Elliot quickly finished reading Ron's rights and looked at the photo album. It was full of pictures of Karen's daughter and family. Elliot glared at Ron and said, "The missing picture album. What take it as a trophy?"

"I have the right to remain silent," Ron reminded him with a snarl.

The hospital room was dimly right, but Fin could still see Krystal's red hair popping out from under the blanket a nurse had given her, and Karen's deathly pale body.

Fin sighed and looked at his watch. It was two forty-six, and in one hour and sixteen minutes Karen's Living Will would be initiated. Fin scowled at the thought, and made sure Krystal was sleeping before he spoke.

"You know, this is bullshit, having yourself killed because you only have a three percent chance of waking up. I only had a point sixty-seven percent of waking up, and that didn't stop me. The doctors told my family if I hadn't woken up after three weeks, I probably never would wake up again. Three weeks and one day later, I woke up and wanted to get right back to work."

The only response Fin got was the slow beeps of Karen's heart monitor. Karen's left hand was lying motionless next to her body, palm facing down. Fin rose from his chair and circled around her, saying, "You need to wake up. If not for yourself, do it for your kid."

Fin had said the magic word. He saw one of Karen's fingers on her left hand twitch. He leaned closer and saw the whole hand twitch this time. Her fingers started to curl in, making a weak fist, as her eyelids started to flicker open.

At first everything was out of focus and hazy, but soon Karen saw a dark face blocking the light. Her grey blue eyes connected with Fin's dark ones. She blinked and smiled towards Fin, as she asked delicately and barely audibly, "Angel?"

Fin was taken aback by her comment. The last thing he ever expected was for someone to call him an angel because he knew, full well, that he looked anything but angelic. He knew the right thing to do would be to correct her and tell her that he was a detective, but there was something about the way she looked at him. Her eyes were filled with peace and content as she smiled and looked into his eyes. Part of him didn't want to break her delusion, but he couldn't lie to her.

"No, I'm a detective," Fin told her gently.

"Oh," she said quietly, and continued to stare at Fin. After what felt was an eternity to Fin, Karen asked weakly, but politely, "Detective, can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Can you watch over my daughter and make sure no one hurts her? Make sure he doesn't hurt her?" Karen asked, struggling to stay awake and sit up.

"Who's 'he'?" Fin asked urgently.

"He's powerful, don't let him hurt Krystal," Karen whispered quietly, before slipping back into unconsciousness.

"No, don't go back to sleep." Fin tried to shake Karen awake again, but she remained motionless. "Shit."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** thanks for all the reviews, love them and thanks agian!

* * *

Ron sat in a dimly light interrogation room, his face half in shadows and his hands handcuffed. He glared at the two way mirror knowing who, and what, was on the other side. 

The fluorescence light above Ron suddenly went out. Ron sat in the dark with the only light illuminating from the half closed shades. The shadows of the blinds fell on the side of Ron's face that wasn't in the shadows, making him look more malicious then he truly was. He sighed and drummed his fingers on the table.

Elliot opened the door, and turned a spotlight on. He shined it on Ron and asked, "Do you understand your rights?"

"A spotlight, and who says cops don't have a sense of tradition?" Ron asked him spitefully. "Yes, I understand anything I say will be used against me, and I have a right to an attorney. I also understand that once I ask for my lawyer, you can't ask me any more questions."

"So you mind answering a few questions?" Elliot asked, pulling up a chair and sitting across from Ron.

"You can ask them, but I'm not saying I will answer."

"Fine. How did you get the photo album?"

"Karen gave it to me so I could see what Krystal looked like as a kid."

"Why were you at her apartment the night of her rape?"

"I already told you, we were having an affair. We had sex, and then I left." Ron glared at Elliot, and before he could ask anything else, Ron told him, "When I left Karen didn't have a mark on her and she had walked me to the door."

"How many times did you have sex with her that night?"

Ron gapped at him, and asked, "What kind of hell stupid question is that? I had sex with her once that night."

"Did you tell anyone about your affair?"

"I told Hannah and got kicked out of our apartment," Ron answered him cheerfully.

"When did you tell Hannah?" Elliot asked, writing down Hannah's name.

"Yesterday."

Elliot crossed out Hannah's name and asked, "Did anyone find out about your affair?"

Ron stared at him blankly and said, "I want my lawyer."

Elliot nodded and turned off the spotlight. He walked across the room and flicked on the lights. Ron rolled his eyes and muttered, "Wow, the lights magically work again."

A male doctor checked Karen's vital signs again and shook their heads. "No change Detective."

"But she woke up and spoke to me," Fin told them.

"That sometimes happen," the doctor told him. "The patient will briefly wake up, but their stat of consciousness never last long. They always go back to a comatose state within twenty minutes at the most."

"So she won't wake up again?"

The doctor shook his head and said, "It's not probable. I have to check on my other patients, and then I'll be back to instate the Living Will."

Fin nodded and waited for the doctor to leave. Krystal had wakened up, and was staring at Fin desperately. Before Fin could tell Krystal anything, Karen slowly opened her eyes and saw Krystal. She smiled and whispered, "Krystal."

Krystal turned, and started crying when she saw her mom smiling at her. Krystal ran up to Karen and hugged her saying, "The doctors told me there was only a three percent chance of you waking up. Meaning there was a ninety-seven percent chance you wouldn't wake up."

Karen cooed her daughter and stroked her daughter's head. "Shh, why did I ever let that school teach you math?"

Krystal laughed, and hugged her mother tighter. Karen rested her head on her daughter, and looked around the room. She saw Fin and smiled. Fin nodded at her, as Karen closed her eyes and whispered to her daughter, "I love you sweetie."

Fin silently left the hospital room, and pulled out his phone. He quickly dialed his Caption's number.

Cragen, Olivia, and Elliot were in the back room, staring at Ron. "I think he's covering for someone," Elliot told them.

"But the question is who?" Olivia asked, staring at Ron as though the answer would appear across his forehead.

"Cut a deal with him and see if he will talk," Cragen told him. "I'll call Novak and see if the DA office will bite."

As Cragen reached for the phone, it rang. He picked it up as Elliot speculated to Olivia, "What I want to know is why he would cover for someone, he already told his wife about the affair."

"Or he was lying about that," Olivia suggested.

Cragen hung up the phone and said, "There won't be a deal. Karen Barley just woke up."

**St. Patrick's Hospital, 11th Avenue. Thursday, March 4th.**

Fin told Olivia and Elliot that the doctor was checking on Karen and they would know more once the doctor came out. Olivia was the first one to ask a question. "What she say after she woke up?"

"Nothing really, she spotted her daughter and called her over," Fin answered her.

The doctor came out of the room, and walked over to the detectives. "She's going to be fine," he told them. "We want to keep her in the hospital for the night, and just run some test."

"Can we talk to her?" Olivia asked.

"Yes, but only for a little while. Try not to get her too upset," the doctor warned before walking away.

"Fin, do you want to ask her the questions?" Elliot asked.

Fin shook his head, feeling strangely guilty about entering the room again and told Elliot, "Nah, go ahead. I'll stay watch."

Elliot and Olivia entered the brightly lit hospital room to see Karen was a wake, and reading a newspaper. Olivia smiled sweetly at her and pulled up a chair. She pulled out her badge and said, "Hi Ms. Barley, I'm detective Olivia Benson, and this is my partner Elliot Stabler."

Karen stared at Olivia, and looked briefly at Elliot. She gave Olivia the once over with her eyes, and then went back to reading. Elliot gave Olivia a question glance, who shrugged in response. Olivia tried again. "Ms. Barley, mind if we ask you a couple questions about the night of your attack?"

Karen flinched, but said quietly, "Sure thing."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Olivia asked.

Karen flipped the page of the newspaper and remained silent. Olivia waited a moment and then asked again, "Can you tell me what happened the night you were attacked?"

"I … I don't remember the attack," Karen told them nervously.

"What do you remember?" Olivia questioned kindly.

"Ron just left and," Karen hesitated, and began to shake.

Olivia placed her hand on Karen's arm and asked, "How about you tell me what happened with Ron?"

Karen started twisting her fingers as she answered Olivia. "We were having affair and afterwards, we both agreed not to see each other again. When he left I was fine."

"What happened after Ron left?"

"I went to sleep and the next thing I knew, I was here," Karen told her. "Someone must have broken in or something."

"So what you're saying is after you went to sleep someone broke in and raped you?" Elliot asked.

Karen stared at Elliot with numbness in her eye and said, "I live in New York, the whole city is a shitty neighborhood. I won't put it past anyone."

"How do you explain the bruises then?" Olivia quipped.

Karen sighed and looked down at her paper. She took a couple moments and then told Olivia and Elliot, "Listen, you can go back and tell your boss I'm not talking. Just stop wasting your time."

Olivia tried to ask another question, but Karen wouldn't open her mouth once to respond. After several failed attempts to get an interview, Olivia and Elliot left the hospital room. Fin came up to them and asked, "So, what she tell you?"

"To stop wasting our time, and to tell our boss she isn't talking," Olivia told him. "She's obviously protecting someone, but the question is who and why."

"Did you tell her that you were detectives?" Fin asked.

"Yeah, but she didn't seemed too impressed," Elliot told him.

"Let's go tell Cragen that he might want to cut a deal with Ron," Olivia said. Elliot nodded and the two of them head out.

**SVU Squad Room, 16th Precinct. Thursday, March 4th**.

"What do you mean she won't talk?" Cragen asked, not hiding his anger. Olivia and Elliot stood by the door in uneasy silence. Casey Novak was sitting in a chair by the door, shaking her head.

"Even without her statement, we still have enough to arraign him," Casey told Cragen.

"I would still like to know why she is protecting him," Cragen said, annoyed.

"Maybe she still loves him," Olivia suggested quietly.

"But that leaves the question, who is Ron covering for," Elliot said.

"Listen, I'm not seeing the problem. If she is trying to protect him, a jury will see right through it," Casey told them. "Try to get her statement one more time and if she lies again, threaten her with perjury." She looked at Cragen's desk clock and asked, "I have to be in court in half hour, so do you want me to arraign him or not?"

"Yes, we do," Cragen answered her.

**Arrangement, Trail Part 45. Thursday, March 4th.**

Elliot and Olivia sat in the benches on the side of the prosecution, as Casey Novak got ready to arraign Ron. Ron was dressed in a suit, and his lawyer, Jacqueline Jackson, was standing next to him confident. Ron, however, was a nervous wreck.

The bailiff stood up tall and said loudly, "The people versus Ron Weston for attempted murder and sexual assault."

"How does the defendant plead?" Judge Michelle Talon asked.

"Not guilty, your honor," Jacqueline answered.

"And on the amount of bail?" Judge Talon asked.

"Remand," Casey said.

"May we approach the bench, your honor?" Jacqueline requested.

"Approach."

Casey shot a dangerous look at Jacqueline as they approached the Judge. "What is it counselor?" Talon asked Jacqueline.

"Your honor, my client is an upstanding citizen, who has never been in trouble with the law before. I think a reasonable bail should be in order," Jacqueline explained.

"Your honor, Jacqueline's client has tried to kill a woman after he raped her; I think remand is reasonable," Casey retorted.

As the two attorneys were discussing the amount of bail, Ron kept looking nervously over his shoulder, to someone in the back of the courthouse. Olivia noticed the odd fidgeting and looked in the same direction Ron kept glancing at. There was man in a power suit, with light blond hair and icy blue eyes, sitting in the back of the courthouse on the prosecution side. Olivia nudged Elliot and pointed to the man. "Do you recognize him?"

Elliot shook his head and whispered, "He looks familiar, I just can think of his name."

"Why would Ron keep looking over at him? Think that's who he protecting?" Olivia asked.

"He has a lot of balls to sit on the prosecution side then," Elliot told her.

Judge Talon banged her gavel and said, "Bail is set at five hundred thousand dollars. Next case."

As Ron was lead off by the bailiff, Elliot, Olivia and Casey also exited the courthouse. "If we don't get Karen's statement, do you think that will weaken the case?" Olivia asked the question had been nagging at her since they left Cragen's office.

"Not really," Casey said. "I'll convince the jury that she's trying to protect a past love, which she probably is."

"But what if she gets on the stand for the defense?" Elliot asked.

Casey shrugged and said, "I'll just try and shoot down her credibility."

Olivia exhaled angrily and muttered, "Now we have to treat a victim like a criminal."

"I don't like it any better then you," Casey told her. "If she would only tell the truth, then we wouldn't have to treat her like a criminal."

Elliot stayed quiet. He began wondering if he knew his soon to be ex-wife had done something illegal, would he try and protect her? He knew the answer, he would. He loved Kathy, and would do anything to help her. However, he was just recently separated from his wife, while Karen and Ron had been separated for over eleven years and from the reports from England, it sound like Karen felt no loyalty to Ron anymore. So why would she now try and protect Ron?

"Elliot, you ok?" Casey asked concerned.

"What?" Elliot looked around and realized they were already outside. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You were pretty lost in thought there. Care to tell us what you were thinking about?" Olivia asked.

"Just thinking," Elliot told her curtly.

"Are you two going back to the hospital or back to the precinct?" Casey asked.

"Precinct," Olivia answered.

Elliot spotted the unknown man speaking to Hannah, and they seemed to be arguing. He head over to them, followed by Olivia. "Hello Mrs. Weston, is there a problem?" Elliot asked sweetly.

"Besides you trying to put my cheating bastard of a husband in jail for something I know he couldn't have done, no there is no problem," Hannah spat at him.

"Weston, that's no way to talk to a cop," the man said patronizingly.

"What the hell are you doing at the arrangement anyway, Marcelo? I know you hate Ron and I know you didn't get along with Karen," Hannah snapped.

"I'm here because my wife was friends with Karen, and wanted to make sure the man who killed her was caught," Jonathan explained.

"Ron didn't kill her," Hannah yelled. "If anyone would want her dead it's you."

"Or you," Jonathan shot back. "After all, she was sleeping with your husband."

"Okay, that's enough," Elliot said, stepping between Hannah and Jonathan. He turned to Olivia and whispered, "Talk to Hannah, try to calm her down."

Olivia nodded and Elliot turned to Jonathan. He showed him his badge and said, "I'm Detective Elliot Stabler, and you are…?"

"Jonathan Marcelo and I already talked to Detectives Fin and Munch," Jonathan told him.

"Right, mind telling me why you were talking to Mrs. Weston?" Elliot inquired.

"I don't have to explain myself or my actions to you," Jonathan snapped before briskly walking away.

"That son of a bitch," Hannah muttered after him.

"Do you really think Marcelo would want Karen dead?" Olivia asked her.

"What?" Hannah looked at Olivia confessed, and shook her head. "I… I don't know. I have to get back to work now Detectives."

As soon as Hannah was out of year shot Elliot asked, "How did Marcelo know that Ron cheated? That information hasn't been made public yet."

"Two ways, he figured it out when Hannah called Ron her cheating bastard of a husband, or he already knew," Olivia told him. "But I have the feeling it was the latter."

"This is bad," Elliot murmured.


	6. Chapter 6

**St. Patrick's Hospital, 11th Avenue. Thursday, March 4th.**

Fin stared at the tiled floor, with a cup of horrible tasting coffee in his hand. He knew he should really get back the precinct, but he felt responsible for making sure Karen was okay. The only time Fin ever let a case get personal was if someone used drugs or sold drugs. Karen had no record of drug abuse, so why was he letting her case get personal?

Hannah stormed by him, and walked in Karen's room before Fin could stop her. She didn't shut the door all the way, so Fin eavesdropped from outside the room.

Karen was asleep when Hannah walked in. Hannah threw her purse at Karen and said, "Get up."

Karen woke with a jolt as the purse hit her. She glanced around the room hurriedly and let out a sigh of relief when she recognized Hannah. "Jesus Hannah, somehow I knew Lucifer's angel would be you."

"How can you do this? Do you know what Ron is going through?" Hannah asked frustrated.

Karen shrugged. "Is he going through menopause?" she asked innocently.

"What are you talking about?" Hannah asked, confused.

"What are _you_ talking about?" Karen asked.

"Ron and the hell the police are putting him through," Hannah told Karen.

"What's going on?" Karen asked.

"Like you don't know?"

"No, I don't Hannah, I've been here!" Karen told her, her voice cracking.

"They arrested him. They think Ron tried to kill you," Hannah told her.

Karen stared at her, wide eyed. "I'm sorry, Hannah. Ron didn't do this and I'll testify to that in court."

"Why?"

"The same reason it was eleven years ago," Karen told her. "Only this time, I let it get out of hand."

"It just happened is a reason for a kiss, not sex," Hannah spat.

"I'm sorry, Hannah, but if I find out you are taking your anger out on Krystal instead of me, I will be the one visiting you in the hospital," Karen warned her.

Hannah shook her head in disbelief. "Can you ever give a normal apology?"

"No, but I _am_ sorry," Karen told her.

"Just stay away from Ron," Hannah warned as she turned on her heel and stormed off.

Karen nodded and whispered, "I have no intention to ever see him again."

As Hannah stalked down the hospital corridor, Fin's cell phone rang. "Tutuola."

"I'll be right there," Fin said.

Fin walked into the squad room to find that Cragen, Casey, Olivia and Elliot were waiting for him. Cragen looked up at him and said, "Well Detective Tutuola, we're so pleased you could stop by and take time out of your busy schedule."

Fin nodded and sat down at his desk. Olivia stared at him and asked, "Where's Munch?"

"On special assignment," Cragen explained. He turned to Casey and asked, "How did the arraignment go?"

"Fine, bail was set at five hundred thousand dollars," Casey said. "I do have a question about your investigation."

"Shoot," Cragen told her.

"Did anyone question Jonathan Marcelo?" Casey asked.

"Munch and I did," Fin answered. "His alibi cleared, and there's no motive for him to kill her."

"Well except for the fact that his wife and Karen had a huge argument," Olivia reminded him.

"It was twelve years ago," Fin objected. "No one holds on to a grudge for that long and it was between his _wife_ and Karen, not him."

"Why did you ask, Casey?"

"I figured the defense would bring him up after I witnessed that fight between Mrs. Weston and him, and I wanted to be prepared," Casey said.

"Can I say something?" Elliot asked.

"Go right ahead Elliot," Cragen said.

"I've been checking out Marcelo's background and he's clean," Elliot said. Everyone stared at him, wondering where he was going with this. "But after talking with Karen's friend, I found out that people were scared of him. No one wanted to upset him, and anyone who did, if they were lucky, would end up in the hospital for the night. Another interesting tidbit, no one ever tried to press charges after they had a chat with Jonathan's father, Cletus."

"What exactly are you trying to get at?" Cragen asked.

"Just that Marcelo had the means if he wanted to attack Karen and then cover it up," Elliot clarified.

"You're beginning to sound like Munch," Olivia muttered.

"Maybe Munch finally has something," Elliot defended.

Cragen sighed and said, "All right, everyone call it a night. And for the last time, Jonathan Marcelo's alibi checks out."

As everyone started to leave, Fin lingered behind. "Captain, what if Ron somehow made bail and wants to make sure he doesn't leave any loose ends behind?" Fin asked.

Cragen gazed at Fin, bewildered. "You really think a reporter could make a five hundred thousand dollar bail?" Cragen asked.

Fin shrugged and said, "Never mind."

Cragen let out a desperate sigh and wondered why he let his detectives get this way. Then he asked, reluctantly, "Do you truly think she is in immediate danger from _Ron_?"

Fin thought about it and answered quietly, "No. Thanks anyway Capt."

As Fin headed towards the door, Cragen called after him, "Fin, try and get some rest. You look like a mess."

Fin had gone back to his apartment and fell into a restless sleep. He was awoken by a phone ring at nine till four.

"Tutuola, what the hell you want?" he asked grumpily into the phone, looking over at his clock and groaning.

"How about a friendly 'good morning'?" Munch asked on the other end. Fin knew he had a pompous grin on his face.

"Four AM is not morning, morning comes after the dawn," Fin told him. "What do you want, Munch?"

"I figured out how Marcelo got out of his apartment without going through the front lobby," Munch told him.

"Great, tell the press they have their headline for today. I'm going back to bed," Fin told him and hung up.

As Fin rested his head back on his pillow and drifted back to sleep, a terrorizing thought snapped in to total consciousness. Fin picked up the phone and dialed Munch.

"I knew you found my dazzling voice irresistible," Munch greeted Fin.

"What the hell do you mean you found something out about Marcelo?" Fin asked frantically.

"Exactly like I said."

"What was your bony ass doing investigating Marcelo?" Fin questioned.

"Well, Captain said take the day off, so I waited till midnight, because that was a start of a new day, when I started my investigation," Munch answered him.

"You're a crazy son of a bitch, you know that right?"

"So you want to hear what I got now or what?"

Fin sighed and asked, "Where are you now?"

"In the squad room," Munch answered him.

"I'll meet you there."

Munch was sitting on his desk, looking at paper in a folder. The squad room was practically deserted except for a couple of uniformed officers and Munch. Fin walked in and went straight for the coffee. Fin took a sip and quickly spit it back out. No one had made a fresh pot yet.

"Good morning sunshine," Munch greeted him. "And how are you this morning?"

"Wondering what was so important I had to come in three hours early," Fin snarled.

Munch gave him the folder and told him, "Look at this."

Fin grumbled and grabbed the folder. As Fin read the containments of the folder, he smiled and said to Munch, "You really are a crazy son of a bitch. Have you called the Captain yet?"

"He's on his way."

As soon as Donald Cragen entered the squad he was greeted by Munch and Fin saying, "Marcelo is lying."

"Ok, too early for you both to be talking," Cragen told him. "Munch, tell me why you called me so early."

"Okay, first off, Marcelo has an apartment with a balcony that is attached to a fire escape. I did some research and found that in his building they record if the doors out to the balcony are open," Munch explained, and handed Cragen his folder. "I checked with the lobby, and found out that Marcelo had his door open for a few hours during the night of March 2nd to the 3rd, and during that time Karen Barley was attack."

"Did it ever occur to you that his apartment was warm and he wanted to cool it off?" Cragen asked even though he didn't believe it.

"It was in the low forties that night, there no way he would have left it open for that long," Munch defended.

"He could have fallen asleep."

"Or tried to kill Karen Barley," Fin quipped.

"We have an unknown fingerprint, which probably would match with Marcelo and an ultra blond hair. Also, Marcelo did have those bruises on his face, he could have made up the excuse about being mugged," Munch chimed in.

"There is no way the DA is going to give us an arrest warrant on that," Cragen told them.

"What if we get Karen's statement?" Munch suggested.

"Then the DA might bite," Cragen answered. "So get over to the hospital, and get try to get her to talk."

**St. Patrick's Hospital, 11th Avenue. Friday, March 5th**.

"Listen detectives, I don't think talking to her is a good idea," the doctor told Fin and Munch, "especially after what some of your detectives did last night."

"What detectives?" Fin asked.

"They said they were from the three six precinct, and the sure gave her hell," the doctor explained. "We had to drag them out of the room after she broke into tears and started screaming, 'Get out. Leave me alone.'"

"Did you get names from these two detectives?" Munch inquired.

"Smith and Johnson I think."

Munch nodded and said, "Still, we would really appreciate if we could talk to her."

The doctor sighed and said, "Only one of you can go in, but only after she wakes up."

They nodded and the doctor headed off. Fin frowned and asked, "Since when as the three six stopped being Narcotics, and became Special Victims Unit?"

"Something's going on; I smell conspiracy," Munch mumbled.

"Or an attempt at a cover-up," Fin responded.

"I think I should question her," Munch said.

Fin leered at him and asked, "Why you?"

"I look most like a cop," Munch told him.

"You look like you're here to whack her," Fin retorted.

"You look like you going to shoot her in a drive by," Munch quipped.

Munch looked into the hospital room, and saw Karen was awake. Before Fin could respond, Munch entered.

Karen looked up and sighed when she saw Munch. "Let me guess, you're a detective," she said dryly.

"Yes, I am," Munch told her. He noticed she wasn't dressed in the hospital gown anymore. "Who brought you clothes?" he asked.

"Does it really matter?" Karen asked.

"Yes."

"Can I see some ID?" Karen asked sweetly.

Munch pulled out his badge and showed it to her. Karen grabbed it out of his hand and inspected it. While she was looking at it she thought, _I really wish I knew what a real badge looks like_.

Karen tossed the badge across the room and said, "You can buy more realistic badges at any joke store."

"Well, this one is real," Munch reassured her as he picked up his badge.

"And I'm the real Queen of England."

"Well, Your Highness, mind telling me what happen on the night of March 2nd?" Munch asked.

Karen gave him an icy glare and asked, with a sarcastic note, "Mind if I ask a question, Detective?"

"What?"

"How much are you making on this job? How much is your boss paying you to do this?" Karen asked, her angry blue eyes never leaving Munch's.

"Police officers don't make that much," Munch answered her

"But how much is he paying you?"

"I don't know who you mean," Munch told her.

"Let me put it in terms you'll understand," Karen said. "How much dough do you get for whacking me as a job for Godfather's son?"

"Aw, that's cute," Munch said sarcastically, "acting like I'm in the Italian mob."

"Oh I'm sorry, is it German mob or something?" Karen asked innocently.

"Russian," Munch said dryly. He regretted it the second the words fell out of his mouth. He didn't need another reason for Karen not to trust him. Sometimes he hated being a wise-ass.

Karen giggled, but stopped shortly and muffled a moan of pain. "Are you all right?" Munch asked.

"It hurts to laugh, Mobster," Karen told him, wincing in pain. "Be sure to thank your boss for me."

"Just who do you think my boss is?"

"The Godfather's son," Karen answered wryly.

Munch moved closer to Karen and said, "Listen, I really want to help you, but you have to tell me what happened."

Karen shook her head and yelled, "If I didn't talk to the other four supposed cops, why should I talk to you?"

"Quiet," Munch told her quickly. "Don't start yelling."

"Why?" Karen stared at him blankly, her eyes sizing him up. "You don't want me attracting attention before killing me?"

"I'm not going to kill you," Munch exclaimed. "I'm trying to help. Listen, an innocent man might go to jail if you don't comply."

Karen shook her head frantically and said, "No, no. Ron didn't hurt me; he couldn't even hurt a spider."

"Then tell me who did hurt you, Karen," Munch said kindly.

Karen closed her eyes, and shook her head. She felt some tears escape her eyes and roll down her cheek. Munch touched her shoulder compassionately, which made Karen jerk away and yell, "Leave me alone."

Munch let out a heavy sigh and left the room. Fin was waiting for him. "How did it go?"

Munch shook his head and said, "Called me a mobster and told me to leave, not before saying Ron didn't hurt her."

Karen's doctor came over to them and asked, "Is that going to be all, detectives?"

"For now," Munch told him.

"Well, she going to be released now, so is there anything else?" the doctor asked again.

"No," Munch answered him.

The doctor nodded and walked into Karen's room.

"You know if she leaves this hospital, there is no way she will talk to use again," Fin told Munch.

"I think she really wants to tell someone what happened, she just doesn't know who she can trust," Munch said.

Fin nodded and asked, "Do you have any suggestions on how we get her to trust us before she is released?"

Munch looked at his partner, and shook his head. "We don't exactly look like we're a trustworthy pair," Munch reminded him. He shrugged and suggested, "Maybe if we dress you up like a priest she'd trust you."

Fin face lit up and he said, "You're right."

"How am I right?" Munch asked, shocked.

Fin saw the doctor leave Karen's room, give Fin the opportunity. "I'll be right back."

"What are you doing?" Munch asked, as Fin entered Karen's room.


	7. Chapter 7

The room was empty, but Fin could hear the faucet going in the bathroom. He sat in a chair and waited for Karen. He didn't have to wait long. She came out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of faded jeans, and a light green long-sleeved shirt with a scooping neck line. She wiped away some water from her face and looked up.

Her sad blue eyes meet with Fin's intense dark ones, and she froze for a moment. She squeaked out the word Jesus and ran back in the bathroom, quickly shutting the door. She leaned against the door shaking her head. He couldn't be real. Some medical induced delusion.

She pushed herself off the door, and took a deep breath. It did nothing to settle her nerves. She raised her shaky arm and slowly opened the door. She peeked out, and stared at Fin. He was sitting casually in the hospital chair, looking around. He turned his head and stared at Karen. She gulped and exited the bathroom.

The first thing Fin noticed when she stepped out of the bathroom was she had been crying. The second thing he noticed was how scared she looked, yet there was a spark of curiosity in her eyes as she looked over Fin. He had a grave face that seemed set in stone. Karen found this trait unusual, and continued to stare at him. He was seemed real, and was sitting in her hospital chair.

"Hello," she whispered sheepishly.

"Hi," he responded.

Karen walked closer to him, but made sure she kept her distant. She sat on the bed, her eyes never leaving Fin and asked, "Where you from Heaven, Hell, or upper eastside?"

She laughed gravely at her private joke. When Fin didn't answer her, she realized she was talking to someone she wasn't sure even existed. She jumped off the bed and muttered, "I'm crazy. I'm talking to a medical illusion."

"I'm not an illusion," Fin told her.

"I don't want you to be real," Karen said quietly, backing away from Fin.

"Why?" Fin asked calmly, standing up.

Karen shook her head and backed away saying, "Stay away from me. I can't die."

"Why would you think you would die?"

"Listen Angel of Death or Collector of Damned Souls, leave me alone," Karen snapped at him. She winced as soon as the words spilled from her lips. She stared remorsefully at Fin and started reciting 'Our Father.'

She truly confused Fin. He had seen her be fierce and fight with everyone else, but around him she acted like a scared two-year-old who liked to hide behind their parents when they met a stranger, but who would also peek out and stare at the stranger. To Fin, she seemed almost as if she feared his wrath.

"I'm not here to collect your soul," Fin told her.

"Of course you're not," Karen said. "You're only a delusion. And I'm insane to think I would get an angel."

"You're not crazy," Fin said kindly.

"Oh, but I am," Karen rebuffed, "because I'm having a nice little chat with my delusion."

"Can I ask you something?"

Karen shrugged and said, "Why not, delusion?"

"Why don't you tell anyone what happen to you that night?"

Her face drained of emotions. She gazed into Fin's eyes and he knew the answer. Her eyes held fear, desperation, anxiety, and showed she was hurt deeply. Still, something about the way she was acting he felt as if she wasn't worried about herself. If she had been concerned about only herself, she would tell the police what had happened. Yet she had kept her mouth shut, and he had figured out why.

"He threatened Krystal, didn't he?"

She dug her nails into her left wrist and nodded, feeling a lump in her throat. As she held back the tears she choked out, "I can't let anything happen to Krystal."

Fin nodded. He understood how Karen felt. He would make sure his child was safe too, by any means.

"Karen if you tell me what happened, I'll make sure Krystal is protected," he assured her.

She looked desperately at Fin and said, "I wish I could believe you Angel."

Fin wondered how he could get Karen to talk. He didn't want to threaten her with arresting her for obstructing justice, and he definitely didn't think that would have her open up. He had an idea, but it could end up with him getting slap. It was the only option left.

"Do you want justice?" Fin asked.

"Yes, but not at the price of Krystal," Karen told him.

"Don't you think Krystal wants justice too? Don't you think she wants the man who almost killed her mother to be put behind bars?"

Karen paused, she hadn't thought about that possibility. Fin knew that and continued, "She was the one who stayed by your side, day and night refusing to leave. She's a victim too. If you don't want justice for yourself then how about justice for your daughter?"

She looked sadly at the ground and bit her lip. Finally she asked, looking up at Fin with determination in her eyes, "My daughter would be safe, right?"

Fin nodded and Karen said in a shaky voice, "I thought he was Ron, that's why I opened the door. If I knew he wasn't Ron, I never would have opened the door."

She sat down on the bed shaking. Fin pulled a chair up to her and said, "It's all right Karen, take your time. Tell me what happened."

"I want to shut the door, but he pushed it back open. He handed me a piece of mail I drop on the stairs, as he stepped into my apartment."

"Why do you remember him giving you a piece of mail?"

"He criticized me for being unorganized," Karen answered.

"What happen next?" Fin asked, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.

"I asked him to leave, but he just laughed. Called me an adulterous whore, and said he didn't need to listen to me. That's when I tried to force him out and he hit me." Her hand flew up to her jaw where there was a fading bruise. She took a deep breath and went on. "At that point I told him to leave or I would call the cops. He laughed at me and said it wouldn't matter if I did or not, he could easily put cops on the pay role. That's when I punched him.

"It shocked him for a moment, and I started running towards my bedroom. He grabbed my hair, and pulled me closer to him. He wrapped his arm around my neck and squeezed. I cried out, but he squeezed tighter till I couldn't make a sound. That's when I elbowed him, I wasn't sure if I hit his stomach or groin, but I know I hit him. That's when I ran, and made it to the bedroom. I locked the door, and went to the phone debating if I should call 9-1-1. I thought maybe he would leave on his own if I stayed in my room.

"And that's when he started banging on the door and kicked the door in. I froze, and when he started coming towards me I realized he wasn't going to leave on his own. So, when he got in range I started throwing punches. He grabbed my wrist and pushed me against the wall. He pushed his arm against my throat and with my one free hand I started clawing at his arm. He pressed his arm deeper against my throat until I almost collapsed.

"I remember falling to the ground, and hitting the corner of the table on the way down. I also remember looking into his eyes, trembling, and seeing smug satisfaction on his face. He started saying something, but I couldn't hear it. While he was distracted I tried to crawl away, but he grabbed my leg and dragged me over to the bed. I kicked his arm away and tried to stand. He grabbed my arm and forced me up.

"He started twisting my arm, so I grabbed a fist full of hair and pulled. He threw me on the bed and said-" Karen stopped and broke down. All the tears she was holding back flooded through and she couldn't stop them. She was shaking worse then before and she started using her sleeves to wipe away the large masses of tears streaming down her cheek. Fin looked around and found a box of tissues. He got up and handed it to her.

"Thanks," she murmured.

"No problem," Fin told her. He paused and asked, "What happened next?"

"He said if I screamed or hit him again he would hurt Krystal," Karen answered him, already halfway through the box of tissues.

"I hate to ask, but can you tell me what he did after that?"

"He got on top of me and ran his hands over me." She paused and sobbed heavier as she said, "I couldn't just lay there and do nothing, even though I tried to remind myself to stay still for Krystal's sake. I just couldn't. I started fighting back and he bashed my head against the headboard. Then all I could focus on was the pain. When I felt his touch again, I tried kicking him and he bashed my head against the headboard again. I blacked out after that."

She used the rest of the tissues, and looked down at the ground. Fin placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "I know it's hard, but did you ever find out his name or can you give a description of his face?"

She stopped shaking, and her eyes turn dry. She looked at Fin with unreadable emotions in her eyes and said, "His name is Jonathan Marcelo."

Casey Novak was sitting in her office preparing some final paper work for the first day of Ron's trail, when she got Donald Cragen knocked on her door. "Come in."

"Hi Casey," Cragen greeted her.

"Hi Don, is there something I can do for you?"

"Well, I've got good news," Cragen told her, taking a seat. Casey nodded and Cragen told her, "Fin got Karen to make a statement."

"That is good news," Casey said. "Did she finally come to her sense and stop protecting Ron?"

"No," Cragen said with an air of trouble in his voice.

Casey picked up on it and asked urgently, "What happened?"

"She says Jonathan Marcelo raped her."

Casey smiled and asked, "And what do you expect me with that? Arrest the son of New York's biggest and most powerful businessman? This is a practical joke, right?"

"No," Cragen assured her seriously.

Casey's smile dropped off her face and she shook her head. "We have an almost perfect case against Ron Weston with matching fingerprints over the victim's apartment, a souvenir from her apartment, a sexual history with the victim and no alibi."

"There's no motive," Cragen reminded her. "Plus, if I was a juror and the victim said in court that Ron didn't rape her, I wouldn't evict him."

"Donald, do you know what you are asking me to do? If I give up this highly plausible case to peruse a highly implausible case, I will be the laughing stock of the District Attorney office."

"Casey, do you honestly think you could win this case if Karen gets on the stand for the defense?" Donald asked.

"I'd have a better chance then if we prosecute a Marcelo," Casey told him.

"What would convince you to try and convict Marcelo?" Cragen asked.

"A motive that can't be shot down with reasonable doubt."

**Rikers Island Holding Cell Number 3. Friday, March 5th.**

Ron Weston sat in a gray prisons suit across from Casey Novak with his lawyer sitting next to him. Casey stared at him wondering why she had let Olivia talk her into coming here. Olivia had to spend twenty minutes convincing her that Ron knew something and was covering up for someone, maybe even Jonathan Marcelo. Finally, after Olivia had whined, or what seemed like whining to Casey, nonstop for fifteen minutes Casey agreed to talk to Ron. So that's what she was doing here.

"What is it that you want to talk to my client about Miss Novak?" Jacqueline asked her eyes staring sternly at Casey.

Casey held in her thought that this was ridiculous and said, "The police have informed me that they think he is covering for someone. Whether it is a partner, friend, or _enemy_ and I think it would be in your client's best interests to tell us everything he knows."

Ron stared at her when she said enemy. His eyes widened with fear and he wondered if she knew. _No_, he reassured himself, _she couldn't know_.

"I think the only reason you would ask that is if you have evidence against someone else for the same crime my client allegedly commented," Jacqueline said in a mater of fact tone and her eyes were no longer filled with anger, but amusement. "So tell me about this new piece of evidence and then maybe we'll talk."

Casey stared at Jacqueline with loathing. She knew she couldn't go flat out and tell Jacqueline what Karen said. "How about you tell your client how bad this case looks for him, and if he doesn't start talking soon then he is digging his own grave?"

Jacqueline leaned in and whispered in Ron's ear. Ron knew his defense looked bad and he would probably lose, but he rather go to jail then face the alterative.

"I don't know anything," Ron told Casey stubbornly.

Casey glanced over to Olivia agitated. Olivia felt the heat from her glare and decided to take a chance. She sat down and looked at Ron. He was nervous, and she knew he was hiding something.

"Would it help if I said I didn't think you did this to Karen?" she asked softly.

Ron looked at her cautiously. Her face looked genuine. She had concern written all over her face, which was looking gently at him. Ron shook his head and said, "That's a lie. You think I'm guilty."

"No, but I do think you know who might have done this," Olivia told him. "And I don't know why you are trying to protect him."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ron said again.

"He already went after your ex-wife, who is to say he won't go after you or your wife or _child_?"

Ron turned his head violently and Jacqueline asked, "What's your offer?"

"He tells us what he knows and from there we see if we can knock off the sexual assault charge," Casey said defiantly.

Jacqueline pondered this for a moment and whispered in Ron's ear. Ron shook his head and said, "No, I won't say a thing."

Casey said and got ready to leave. She felt there was no point in trying to help Ron if he didn't want to help himself, even if Olivia did want to help prove his innocence. She didn't know why everyone in the sixteenth precinct who once worked so hard to prove his guilt was now trying to prove his innocence. It was starting to get on her nerves.

"Ron, please tell us about what you know so we can put Karen's rapist behind bars," Olivia said. "If we don't catch him now, he will attack again. Rape to rapist is like a highly addicted drug that they grow a tolerance to quickly. If Karen's rapist strikes again, he will kill his victim and there's no telling who that will be."

Ron shifted uncomfortably and mumbled bitterly to himself, "Maybe if she had kept her mouth shut this wouldn't have happened."

Casey raised an eyebrow and asked, "What does that mean?"

"I'd like a moment alone to speak to my client," Jacqueline demanded quickly.

"No," Casey answered her shortly. She turned on Ron and asked, "What did you mean by 'if she had kept her mouth shut?'"

Ron shook his head and said, "No way in hell I'm going to tell you."

"How would you like content to be added onto your list of charges?" Casey asked in a dangerous tone. "Tell me what you meant."

Ron stared her down. Hated boiled in his veins and was reflected in his eyes, yet Casey's treacherous stare was much worse and Ron knew it. "I was being blackmailed," Ron said quietly and slowly.

"You were blackmailed into trying to kill Karen?" Casey asked to clarify.

"No!" Ron cried out. He sighed desperately and explained, "I was supposed to do this article on the Marcelos, about the alleged drugs that they smuggle into the country, when Marcelo stops by for a chat. He says he knows whom I'm doing and that it would break Hannah's heart if she knew, but he would gladly tell her. Then he says drop the article and no one would have to know, _for now_.

"I never told Karen I was being blackmailed, but I have a feeling she figured it out. And since Karen is Karen, I wouldn't have put it past her to confront Marcelo about and end up in the hospital."

Casey stared at him and whispered, only loud enough for Ron to hear, "You better not be lying."

Then she stood up and walked over to Olivia by the door. "Is that enough for a motive?" Olivia asked in a pompous manner.

Casey gave her a glare and said, "Maybe." She turned to Ron and asked, "Are you willing to testify to being blackmailed in court?"

Ron laughed and said, "Why should I? I'd end up dead, and besides, it won't help my case."

"No, but it will help the prosecution's case against Jonathan Marcelo for the rape and attempted murder of Karen Barely."

* * *

A/N: all right, tell me how you think the story is going so far. I hope you like it. 


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **um, ta-da!(sorry for the wait)**

* * *

**

**SVU Squad Room. Friday, March 5th**.

Casey stormed into the squad room with Olivia, who was smiling smugly, on her heels. Casey had an air of determination and strength around her as she strode up to the Captain and Elliot. "If Jonathan Marcelo is half as bad as his father, then put Karen in the safe house now before I even draw up the arrest warrant!" Casey snapped, her voice daring anyone to disagree with her.

"I'll put Munch and Fin on it," Cragen told her.

Fin had finished showing Karen the safe house while Munch had brought up her bag. Munch threw it on the ground angrily and waited for Fin impatiently. Fin came out of the bedroom with Karen and said, "All right, Munch is going to stay with you 'till the other officers come, while I go back to the precinct and check on something."

"You're leaving me with him?" "I'm left with her?" both Munch and Karen cried, pointing at each other with distaste. They had not gotten off to the best start especially when Karen had 'accidentally' treaded on his toes twice for payback about the German mob comment.

"It's only for a little bit," Fin said.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Munch asked, grabbing hold of Fin's arm and dragging him off to the side. "I've got a great idea, you stay here with her and I head to the precinct, which is far away from _her_." Munch stressed the 'her' with extreme dislike that was not lost on Fin.

He smiled quickly and lied, "Sorry, Captain's orders." When in fact, Donald Cragen had only asked for one of them to come back and assist on the Marcelo arrest, and there was no way Fin would miss that. He looked over at Karen, who had been listening, and said, "I'll see you in a bit."

Karen nodded briefly. After Fin left, Munch and Karen stared at each other with an uncomfortably awkward silence. Both Munch and Karen's eyes were cold, dangerous and had a small spark of curiosity. However, if either of them were curious to try and understand the other, they restrained themselves from talking. Yes, they couldn't risk the chance of talking and actually begin to tolerate each other.

After a long period of the uneasy silence where the two sized each other up with their eyes, Karen said, "Watch the door, Mobster." Then she picked up her bag and walked into the bedroom.

Fin, along with Olivia, Elliot and two other uniformed police officers, waited in the lobby of Jonathan's apartment building. Fin checked his watch when he heard the elevator doors open. Jonathan Marcelo stepped out, talking on his cell phone. He spotted the police officers and quickly hung up his phone.

He smirked at Fin and said, "Ah, Detective Tutuola, to what I owe this pleasure?"

"Your arrest for attempted murder and sexual assault," Fin told him bluntly. He pulled out the arrest warrant and showed it to Jonathan. "Here's the warrant."

Jonathan grabbed it and began reading it. His eyes scanned the charges and he threw it right back to Fin. "That's a load of bullshit."

"That's for a jury to decide," Fin said as he handcuffed Jonathan and then read him his rights.

Jonathan Marcelo lawyered up before Fin or Elliot could ask him what his name was. His arraignment went well, for him. The bail was sent only at fifty thousand on the lack of evidence, which he made easily. Casey Novak was staying late in her office preparing for the trail when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said.

"Hey," Fin greeted.

Casey looked up at him and asked, "Is there something I can help you with, Fin?"

"I just stop by to see how things were going with the trial," Fin said.

She hold up some blue papers and said, "Marcelo made bail and his lawyers are making a motion to declare this trial a mistrial on the lack of evidence."

"It won't hold up, will it?" Fin asked, concerned.

"No, but they will make more motions to dismiss his matching fingerprint to the partial fingerprint on the piece of mail and to dismiss DNA match of his hair to the hair found under the victim's nail. Also, to dismiss Ron Weston's testimony on the fact that he isn't a creditable witness. They will probably be able to convince a judge about the latter."

Fin said nothing, leaving an uneasy silence in the room. Casey looked at him and asked, "Fin, why the sudden interest in my job?"

He shrugged in response, which concerned her. "Fin, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm cool," he responded. Then he said, right before leaving, "I'll let you do your job."

Casey stared curiously after him. Lois Preston.

**Safe House, Location Unknown. Saturday, March 6th**.

"All right Munchie, are you in or out?" Karen asked a malicious smile on her face.

The two had amazingly hit it off once Karen started questions about Munch's theories. She had heard from other cops about Munch's extremely bizarre theories, and once she heard them, she automatically agreed with half of them.

Now Munch gazed at his cards and stroked his chin. They were playing Texas Hold'em and Munch had already lost his twenty three dollars and once he ran out of money, he had lost his suit's jacket, watch, shoes, socks, tie and pants. He was down to shirt, glasses or boxers and he didn't want to lose any of them.

Karen let out an annoyed sigh and started humming the Jeopardy theme song. She was wearing Munch's tie hanging loosely around her neck. Munch shot her a glare and said, "I'm thinking."

"Think faster, it's not a life changing decision," she retorted.

There was a knock on the door. Karen stared at the door fearfully while Munch grabbed his gun and walked up to the door. He looked through the peephole and let out a quiet sigh. He opened the door and asked, "What are you doing here, Fin?"

"Captain wants double shifts on… Where are your pants?" Fin asked suddenly.

Munch looked down at his long, lanky legs, with just his dark blue boxers covering him and he had to suppress a blush. Karen giggled and said, "He's horrible at poker."

"Okay," Fin said slowly. "Munch, can I see you for a second?"

"Sure." Munch followed Fin into the kitchen area and asked, "What's up?"

"Man, you've not only got a bony ass, but bony legs to match," Fin said, staring at Munch's legs.

"What do you want? Why are you here?"

"There was a car parked outside of Karen's daughter's school, with two ex-cons in it, staking it out," Fin told him quietly.

"Think Marcelo sent them?" Munch asked in a whisper.

"Too big of a coincidence for it not to be."

Munch frowned and stroked his chin. Fin peered over at Karen and said, "Not a word to Karen, she doesn't need this stress."

Munch nodded and walked back over to Karen. He checked his cards and tried to act like nothing happened. "All right, I'm in."

Karen stared at Munch. He was trying to show no emotion on his face and was succeeding. That's what frightened Karen the most. She glanced over at Fin, but his face was always set in stone and nothing seemed different. She looked back at Munch and tried to peer into his eyes that were hidden behind his glasses.

"You in?" Munch asked.

Karen just nodded, halfheartedly.

As soon as Munch flipped the final card, he was going to lose horribly. He tried to keep a poker face, but a grim frown sneaked its way onto his face.

"I'm all in, how about you?" Munch asked, trying to look as though he was suppressing a smile.

"What?" She asked distantly. She hadn't been paying attention; she was too busy trying to stop all the pessimistic thoughts from entering her mind.

"I'm all in," Munch repeated. "You in?"

She shook her head and pushed twenty three dollars towards him. She said jokingly, "I'll pay you twenty three dollars for you to keep your shirt on."

"Ha ha, cute," Munch mumbled as he took back his money.

"I'm going to go take a shower," Karen said, getting up and slowly walking back to the bedroom without another word.

Munch and Fin exchanged glances. Fin looked after her and asked, "You think she knows?"

"No, she's just upset she never got to see me naked," Munch retorted, as he got up and followed Karen.

He knocked on the door and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Karen said, barely audible.

"I'm going for Chinese. Want anything?"

"Salad," she muttered through the door.

"Okay." Munch turned to Fin, gave him an encouraging tap in the arm and whispered, "Good luck."

As Munch left, Fin knocked on the door and said, "You know, you probably won't be able to find a salad at a Chinese restaurant."

Karen flung open the door and asked, "Mind telling me what the bloody hell you're doing here?"

"What?"

"What's the real reason you're here?"

Fin didn't answer her. He didn't want to lie to her or tell her the truth. Thankfully, he didn't have to because there was a knock on the door.

"That would be Munch needing directions," Fin said as moved to answer the door.

Karen sighed angrily, slammed the door shut and locked it. Fin peered through the peep hole, but a hand was covering it. Fin kept the chain lock on, and started to slowly open the door. Suddenly a swift force kicked opened the door, pulling the chain lock of the wall, and hitting Fin in the nose and knocking him back on the ground.

Fin groaned, and raised his hand to his nose. It was swollen and he felt a small trickle of warm ooze come from his nose.

"Hands up," a rough voice commanded.

Fin looked up. There were two big bouncer looking guys standing over him, pointing their guns at him.

Fin raised his hands, glaring at the two. The smaller of the two searched Fin for his gun, and tossed it aside. He turned to the bigger one and said, "Find the girl. Long bark hair, British accent. Think you can handle that?"

The bigger one grunted, and headed down the hall. He reached the bedroom, and tried the door. It was locked, and he knew this was the right one.

He kicked open the door. Karen screamed in fright and backed herself against the wall. She had her hair wrapped up in towel, and a bathrobe on.

"Who the heck are you?" she asked with a very thick southern drawl.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"Lulu May, Haggiens," Karen answered, still in the southern accent.

"Lulu May Haggiens?"

"Yeah, that my name Cowboy." She paused and asked, "Is this because of the insider trading?"

"What insider trading?"

"That's why I'm here, the company I testifying against is for insider trading."

He looked her over and asked, "Do you have a kid?

"How dare you attack my virtue like that! I ain't never been hitched, let alone gaven birth," Karen cried offended.

"How do I know you aren't lying?"

"Why would I lie about something like that?"

"Let me see your hair," he said, grabbing at the towel.

"What? Hey!" Karen cried as she tried to pull away from him.

He ripped the towel off head and looked at her hair. It was dark, but not long. It didn't even reach her shoulders. He had the wrong place.

"Damn it!" he muttered. He looked over at her and said, "You never saw me."

"Saw who?" she responded innocently.

She let out a sigh as soon as he left the room.

The larger guy hit the smaller one and said, "We're done."

"Good."

The larger one started to head out the door. The smaller one went to leave also, but stopped. He turned to Fin and gave him a swift hard kick. Fin groaned, and rolled over on his side.

Fin wanted to move and check on Karen, but his body would not obey. Finally, after what felt like infinity to him, Karen came out of the bedroom, fully dressed.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice filled with panic once she saw Fin lying on the ground, bleeding.

"You're alive?" Fin asked, amazed.

"Are you okay?" she asked again.

"Yeah, I'm cool," he answered her as he struggled to get up.

"Stay down," she said, pushing him to the ground. "I'll get something for that nose."

She quickly stood up and started rummaging through the freezer. She found a bag of frozen peas and carrots, and grabbed it along with a couple of paper towels.

She knelt down next to Fin, wrapped the peas and carrots in one of the paper towels and then placed it on Fin's nose. He winced at the pressure, and looked at Karen.

"What happened to you hair?" he asked.

"I cut it," she answered him, as she moved to clean up the blood on his face.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I heard them and got scared. I thought maybe if I cut my hair they couldn't recognized me, they would leave. All I had to lose was some hair," Karen told him.

Fin was about to say something, when they heard the sounds of someone coming towards the apartment. Karen grabbed Fin's discarded gun and pointed it at the door, just as it creaked open. Munch appeared in the doorway, gun in hand. He spotted the two on the ground and put his gun away. "What happened?" he asked.

"Two guys came here, Marcelo probably sent them," Fin told him.

"If Marcelo sent them, why isn't she dead?" Munch asked.

Fin looked up at Karen for the answer. She shrugged and said, "I guess they'll believe anything someone tells them."

Munch nodded and helped Fin up. "Come on; let's get you back to the precinct." He turned to Karen and said, "You should probably too."

"You think?"

Fin sat in his chair at the precinct, while Karen sat on the desk making sure Fin kept his head back and the ice on his nose. He winced as she touched it softly.

"Don't touch it," he said.

"I'm just trying to make sure you didn't break it," Karen told him.

"How would you know if I broke it?" Fin asked.

"I used to be a ball magnet. No matter what sport I played, the balls would hit me. Especially in dodge ball," Karen told him. Then she muttered angrily, "Vile game, created only to make fat children cry."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I was a fat child," Karen started.

"I don't believe that," Fin said, his eyes running down her body.

She blushed and continued, "In my school it was required to win the dodge ball game by making on of the fat children cry."

"I loved that game," Fin told her with a smile.

Munch came back with Cragen, to explain why they were at the precinct. As they were walking up to Fin and Karen, Cragen asked, "Who's the girl?"

Karen turned her head, and Cragen realized who she was. "Sorry, you just look different with short hair… Wait, why do you have short hair?"

"She cut it when the two guys came to the safe house," Fin told him.

"All right, what happened?"

"Two guys kicked the door in, and when one of them went to Karen's room-" Fin stopped, and looked at Karen.

"I just told them I was Lulu May Clampett," Karen said.

"And he believed you?" Cragen asked.

"Not the sharpest tool in the shed," Karen replied with a shrug.

Cragen nodded and asked, "Any idea how they found her?"

"Probably followed someone," Munch said, looking over at his partner.

Fin picked up on that and asked, "Are you blaming me for this?"

"I'm not saying it's your fault, just that you and Marcelo have a history together, so I wouldn't be surprised if he told his people to follow you," Munch defended.

"Let's wait till Olivia and Elliot get here, then we can figure out a plan for what to do with Miss Barley," Cragen told the three of them.

They nodded and as soon as Cragen had his back turn, Fin snarled at Munch, "They didn't follow me."

"I never said they did. I just said you were the more obvious choice if Marcelo was to follow someone."

Before Munch and Fin could really start arguing, Elliot and Olivia walked in, carrying a crying baby.

"Hey guys," Olivia greeted them as she tried to soothe the irritated baby. She spotted Karen and asked, "What's going on?"

"We had a little problem at the safe house," Fin told them.

"Like what?" Elliot asked.

"There were two unwelcome visitors that stopped by and broke Fin's nose," Munch said with smile.

"Oh, that explains why you look like crap," Olivia quipped.

"Good you're back," Cragen said. Then he noticed the screaming baby and asked, "What is that doing here?"

"ACF won't be able to pick him for a little while," Olivia told him.

"Well, keep it under control," Cragen said.

The baby started crying louder and nothing Olivia did seem to soothe it.

"Here, I'll take the baby," Karen said, holding out her arms. "I'm not doing anything useful."

Olivia handed over the baby, and Karen began trying to soothe it. She started swaying with the baby in her arm and humming slightly. She distanced herself from the detectives, who started working on a plan to keep her safe, and sat down on a bench, still gently rocking the baby. After a little while, the baby was still fussy and Karen started to sing softly to it.

"_Dancing bears. Painted wings. Things I almost remember. And a song someone sings. Once upon a December_."

"Not bad," a gruff voice commented.

Karen looked up in surprise and saw Fin standing beside her. She flushed a light pink and mumbled some thanks.

"You're pretty good at that," Fin said, referring to the now sleeping baby.

"It comes with the territory of being a single parent," Karen told him. Then she asked, "How's your nose?"

"It's better," he told her.

"Can you do this?" she asked as she managed to slightly twitch her nose with out moving her jaw.

"No, but I could never do that," he told her with a smile.

"Hey Fin, get back over here," Munch called.

"I'll be right back."

Karen sighed and looked at the sleeping baby in her arm, tears forming in her eyes.

"That sounds good," Fin said. "I'll go get Karen."

Fin went over to the bench to where he left Karen. No one was there. He looked around desperately and spotted the baby in the arms of a uniformed officer.

"Hey, where's the woman who gave you the baby?" Fin asked urgently.

"I don't know, she headed towards the exit," the officer said.

"Oh crap," Fin muttered. He quickly searched through the precinct and still couldn't finder.

"Hey Caption," Fin called.

"What?"

"She's gone."


End file.
